Nationals – where stars are born, but what’s next? Coach Andy Medas King says proper development programme needed for athletes locally

Apr 23, 2020 Sports

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By Zaheer Mohamed

Modern day, sport materialises as a vital ingredient of Socio-economic development of a country. Active participation in sports improves community health and productivity, reduces visits to the doctor, instills discipline, produces capable leaders, and enhances social cohesion. Sport has a huge role to play when it comes to nation-building; it can bring the people together and it is important that a nation have healthy people. That’s why it is vital to educate, inform and implement strategies and developmental programmes in sports that focus on long-term athlete development and not short-term success.

There is no doubt that Guyana has an abundance of talent when it comes to sport, but while in some disciplines athletes have gone on to greater heights, in others they just bow out after the age group level, despite showing lots of promise.
The Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers Union national schools’ cycling, swimming and track and field championship is of paramount importance to this nation as it provides the young athletes with an opportunity to showcase their talent and set the stage for their career. The athletes performing at this championship represent the cream of Guyana’s junior athletics community, but after performing so well at this meet, many athletes go unheard of for various reasons. Certainly the discipline of athletes and the will to train hard and succeed at higher levels is one question that will come to mind.
It is a known fact that elite athletes have invested many years in training and competition to reach the elite level.
Despite there being numerous alleyways toward achieving elite athletic performance in adulthood, the commitment of these athletes might be best established through the amount of time spent on training. They can also create a sense of oneness. It is of paramount importance that sporting organisations implement developmental programmes to take care of senior athletes.
While a number of athletes take up scholarships overseas to further their studies and enhance their career, others find themselves into local clubs to ply their trade. But what is there to help local athletes achieve maximum performances at higher levels (after school level); of course adequate funds are a prerequisite.
Kaieteur Sport spoke with overseas based Guyanese athletic coach Andy Medas King and sought his views on the development of athletic sport in here.
King informed that he has a number of local athletes under his radar in New York who journeyed there for the New Balance Nationals; one of the largest high school track and field meets around the globe. “Having been one of the most successful coaches in New York, I choose to help the athletes in Guyana because I want to give them a chance to showcase their talent. Back home the Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG) and some coaches would give the athletes a ‘hard-time’ if they seek to develop their talent elsewhere, which I find strange.

“One athlete who has qualified for the Carifta games was told by local authorities that if that athlete goes to the USA, the athlete will not be going to the Carifta games (now postponed).”
“Every year I would host a meet in Guyana dubbed the “King Medas Pansy Adonis track meet” at Lusignan. This meet is not sanctioned by the AAG because they want to dictate my show and I do not allow that; running a meet is not part of sanctioning it. So the AAG would advise the athletes not to take part in my meet in which I usually hand out prizes to the top 10. Every year I would take along a prominent Jamaican coach to overlook my meet which caters for athletes from nursery to masters. The AAG don’t scout talent and this is one area where they need to pick up.”
“Guyana is the only country that I know where athletes 8 years and under run 1k and less. My meet is compatible with the US where athletes receive grants which helps them with their education etc.”
“Popular Jamaican coach Glenn Mills who coached Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt, told me to go the schools while another Jamaican Cynthia Cooke is the individual who would plan my meet,” said the coach.
He went on, “The AAG has no developmental programme in place and meets are not being held in Guyana on a regular basis, so athletes usually find it very difficult to progress after the age group level. When you look at countries like Jamaica, they would send a large number of athletes to schools in the USA and Canada; they would also host regular meets.

Among those athletes that dominated at the junior levels are South American youth championship and Carifta games gold medalist Jason Yaw, Kevin Abbensetts, Cassie George, Samuel Jordon, Tevin Garraway, Nkossie Dazzel and South American U20 100m gold medalist Compton Caesar to name few. Some of these athletes have gone unheard of after showing lots of promise at the junior level and Medas King feels that the lack of an athletics academy and regular developmental meets are among the reasons these athletes do not go on to higher levels. “The athletes must show the commitment and I have seen this, but there is hardly any programme in place to help the young athletes. Look at Compton Caesar for example, after he won the South American U20 100m gold, the Jamaicans wanted him to train there, but he was denied this opportunity by his coach and he has gone off the radar since.”
“Every year I would reach out to local coaches so as to render assistance to athletes wherein I would try to get them to the USA so they can continue with their athletics life and strive for higher heights, but some of them are being deprived of this opportunity by their coaches. There is no consistent programme in Guyana to take them to the next level. No local coach can say they have produced an athlete who won a senior title so this is one of the reasons I would reach out to these athletes.”
The grassroots level is vital for the development of the sport, but Medas King feels that there is no proper system in place at the schools. “These young athletes are talented, what I found out is that these athletes would commence training from August for nationals in November, and they would perform so well, so if there is a programme in the schools which would assist these athletes to train throughout the year, then they can do a lot better.”
King Medas stated, “In countries such as the USA, Jamaica, Canada, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Europe, once you are a certified coach you can host a meet, whereas in Guyana the AAG differs on this, so the athletes are forced to boycott certain meets.”
Medas King stated that the AAG do not invite athletes from all 10 regions for the Carifta trials and noted that there is favouritism among clubs locally.
Adequate funding remains a major issue in the sport here, and Medas King feels that the Government and the business sector must assist. “With these oil and other overseas companies conducting businesses in Guyana, the Government should make in compulsory on them to give back to the country especially in the area of sports. In other countries, foreign companies must give back in order for them to be granted a license to transact businesses locally.”
He feels that the AAG should treat all athletes equally. “When the AAG start to treat all athletes in Guyana equally and stop dictating their athletic life then the landscape of the sport here will change. What you find at the moment is that certain clubs would be given priority over others which is wrong.”
One of the reasons athletes reaped long term success is parental guidance. They provide sound advice, resources and motivation. Medas King stated that parents here need to get more involved in their children sports life and that local scholarship programme is needed. “The parents need to know what is going on in their children sports life and provide supervision. We do not have a scholarship programme at the University, college, the Guyana Technical Institute or the Carnage School of Home Schools Economics, and Guyana is one of the few countries without such systems in place, and so I think the Government can assist in this area as well.”
Medas King said that another issue affecting athletics in Guyana in the absence of a sports policy. “Head teachers need to understand that sport and education complement each other and they must put systems in place to help athletes when they have to compete, and this is where the sports policy comes in the play.” “Studies have shown that Education accompanies sports to fulfill itself in teaching students to the maximum level, so that they can gain not only greater success in life but also make life satisfactory,” said Medas King, adding that it is highly unacceptable that Guyana does not have a sports policy.
A coach can either make or break an athlete and Medas King believes that Guyana needs knowledgeable coaches in the system so the talent of athletes can be better harnessed. “There are some local coaches who do not take advice, and one of them even told a Jamaican coach who wanted to assist, that they do not need anyone to tell them what to do. That kind of attitude by coaches here is not good for the sport and this is one of the reasons why they cannot compete with the rest of the Caribbean.”
He added that the coaches’ favourite athletes would be given priority to excel. “In Guyana there is hardly any opportunity after high school, an athlete there cannot depend on athletics for a living. They have to go in search of work which makes it harder on them; however there are lots of opportunities overseas where athletes are being sponsored and given more recognition, and when they seek to hone their skills overseas they are being denied somewhat by the AAG and coaches.”
“Another issue is that coaches should not work as officials at meets because athletes can be at a disadvantage, especially if the coaches (who act as race official) is not from their club. When this happens, the athletes’ time differ from that of the official so the athletes are being robbed of their hard labour.”
Medas King feels that the AAG should hosts small meets from time to time so the athletes can be given more opportunities locally, and said there is a need for more clubs especially in the outlying areas since the system here is not designed to take care of athletes after school.
“If a school athlete is not part of a club, they would bypass that athlete. The AAG should seek the assistance of the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers Union because the talent is in the schools, and it is at the school level where stars are born.”
Medas King is a USATF level one coach and hails from Paradise on the East Coast of Demerara.
Meanwhile, another Guyanese coach stated that the standard of the athletics here has dropped. “We lost our athletes early in their senior career because there is nothing in place here to help them to continue. There is hardly meets, even small meets are not being kept regularly.”
The coach said that schools athletes can be linked to clubs if there is a proper system in place and there is a need for scouts. “We need to develop a system that can help the athletes with their academics, we also need a welfare section for athletes.”
The coach said that an athletic academy is needed in Guyana. “If the AAG can team up with the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers Union, we can very well see the birth of an academy which will be of benefit to athletes at all levels.”
While he acknowledges that the athletes themselves must be disciplined, he said that the movements of athletes from clubs to clubs must be stabilised. “There must be a transfer window and athletes must not be forced into changing clubs whereas the coaches must give the athletes freedom of choice.”
Adequate funding is a pre-requisite for any sport to develop and the Government must place much emphasis in this area because sports help a country to gain recognition.

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