T&T’s Boxing Coach Sinnette impressed with Guyana Camp

Nov 06, 2021 Sports

– Hopes T&T follows Guyana Government’s support for Boxing

Kaieteur News – Trinidad & Tobago’s Juan Rodriguez’s preparation for the Junior Pan American Games in Colombia from November 25 to December 5 has begun in Guyana. Rodriguez is in Guyana with his Coach, Kirt Sinnette for a two-week Camp, organised by the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA).

Juan Rodriguez, Kirk Sinnette – T&T Boxing Coach

The Camp is being held at the Andrew ‘Six-Head’ Lewis Gym and at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Gym at Camp Ayanganna with Coaches Blake, Sinnette and former Guyana Boxer, Joseph Murray.
Speaking on the ‘Sean Devers Sports Watch’ on Kaiteur Radio, Sinnette, one of only four boxers from T&T to qualify for the Olympics, thanked the President of the GBA Steve Ninvalle for his support and Guyana’s Boxing Coach (Sebert) Blake for putting some ‘nice work’ in place.
Sinnette informed that Rodriguez and he have settled in nicely in Guyana and said meals is of a very good quality. “The cooks ask us what we want to eat and make sure we are comfortable and get the right meals for sportsmen.
Everything is going well and Juan listens to what I tell him which is always important. I believe that Boxing is 99 percent thinking and the one percent is power. I am quite impressed with the way he has started to develop and what is taking place and what I would like him to do.
He told me that he never trained so hard in his life and I told him if you are stepping up in the sport your mind set and preparation will have to become much more rigorous” said the 47-year-old Sinnette,who won bronze at the 1995 Pan American Games and attended the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
“I discovered Juan, who is a member of the East Port-Spain boxing Gym, when I was a director on a Board building infrastructure and realised that many of them would become white Elephants.
I decided to become a coach and go into the depressed communities and try to help them and that’s how I unearthed Juan. Sinnette said there is no boxing in Trinidad at present due to pandemic.
“Before I was, and during my time, large crowds watched Boxing but now boxing in Trinidad has died. The Government and other stake holders need to see sports on a different level and until they understand what it could do for a Country” revealed Sinnette, who lost just three of his 25 Pro fights in career as a Light Heavyweight which lasted from 2004-2015.
Sinnette informed that Boxing Board in Trinidad is trying to get sponsorship but most businesses only come on board after the boxer does well… they don’t understand the process to get there.
He feels a coach most times know more about the kid’s problems than the parents who don’t come to support them.
“As a coach, any young boxer under my watch has to be going to school and have to be doing fairly well” said Sinnette, who was the first Trinidadian to qualify for the Olympics and was also was a four-times Caribbean Champion. “I would like to see the Government in Trinidad do like the Government in Guyana by supporting sports since any athlete leaving their Country become ambassadors.
Many people might not know the President or Prime Minister but they will know Brian Lara or Carl Hooper and where they come from. Governments must understand that Sportspersons represent the country and they should be invested in. I am very impressed with what the Guyana Government is doing for sports” Coach Sinnette concluded.