The Chief deserves to be honoured

Nov 09, 2020 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News- I would have loved to have seen, even now,someone like Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira being made Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport. There is no Guyanese who I can think of who was more passionate about sports and its organization than Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira.
I remember when boxing used to be hosted at the National Sports Hall. ‘Reds’ was extremely protective of the floor of the Hall which was used for basketball and was built at a huge cost to taxpayers.
‘Reds’, even though he was only at the time a sports commentator at the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation, would be pleading with spectators to keep off the floor. He would be trying to shoo spectators off the floor in order that it would not be scratched or damaged.
It was a sad day for radio and for sport in Guyana when ‘Reds’ departed Guyana to take up a job in the Eastern Caribbean.
That was a great loss for the country and sport was never the same again in Guyana.
This column however is not about ‘Reds’. It is about the importance of having someone in charge of Sports who has a good background in sport and sport organization, like ‘Reds’.
If we had more like ‘Reds’ in sports administration, Guyana would do much better. A lot of folks do not appreciate how much this man did for local sport.
This past week there were two tributes which were paid to former Caribbean Men’s Singles Table Tennis champion, George Braithwaite, who was known as ‘The Chief’. Braithwaite died recently.
He had migrated while still young before returning to play in the mid-1970s in the Caribbean Championships which was hosted at the National Sports Hall.
Braithwaite, then in his 40s – an age when most table tennis players are way past their prime – was the star of the tournament. He made it all the way to the finals, in which he was the odds-on favourite to win.
He lost. He also lost the next year in the finals before deservedly clinching the title in 1979.
Braithwaite was one of only four Guyanese to have won the Caribbean Men’s Singles title. The others were Errol Caetano – Guyana’s world-rated tennis player who went on to play for Canada; Bruce Edwards and the durable Mike Christophe.
Braithwaite’s performance at the championships in Guyana was memorable. Those who did not see him perform did not miss anything because ‘Reds’ Perreria’s commentaries brought the action straight into your homes.
Listening to ‘Reds’ commentate, you would believe you were in the Sports Hall watching the game.
This past week Errol Caetano and Mike Baptiste – both national and Caribbean champions – wrote tributes to Braithwaite. I have not heard or read anything being said by the Minister of Sport.
But he can be excused. He was not even born when Braithwaite was wielding his racquet for Guyana.
If someone like ‘Reds’ Perreira was in the Sports Ministry there would have been no such omission. But the younger generation, and even some of the older folks, do not know or remember ‘The Chief’.
It is not too late for the government to posthumously pay tribute to Braithwaite. He was a star performer for Guyana.
His obsession with fitness and his training habits make him a role model for not only table tennis players but for all sportsmen and sportswomen.
Braithwaite was playing table tennis at a high standard way into his 70s. He was a fantastic athlete.
Braithwaite deserves to be better honoured.
Perhaps ‘Reds’ who himself is getting on in age, may wish to do a reflection on Braithwaite and particularly how he carried the colours of Guyana during that memorable tournament which was held in Guyana in the mid 1970s.
The Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport is a decent young man. He is the sort of fellow who is extremely approachable, takes advice and is not pompous. This is unlike so many others who when they are appointed to high office, power gets to their head.
It is not too late for the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport to organize a virtual night of tribute and reflection on Braithwaite. Baptiste, Caetano and others are still around and ‘Reds’ sure would remember him.
Rest in Peace, George Braithwaite!
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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