Hudson takes the blame!

Sep 27, 2022 Sports

…but insisted the GOA could’ve helped

By Rawle Toney

Aubrey Hudson, president of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) is taking full responsibility for the country’s track and field athletes not being present at the South American Games.

AAG president, Aubrey Hudson

The games are scheduled for October 1 – 15 in Paraguay, with Guyana being represented by 16 athletes and six officials from the disciplines of boxing, squash, table tennis and badminton.

Kaieteur News has been clinical in its reports of the AAG’s flaws, in particular of them not having athletes at the South American Youth Games, the World U20 Championships and also failing to register a single athlete for the Commonwealth Games – something that was done on their behalf by the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA).

Hudson told Kaieteur News yesterday while he’s admitting to the AAG’s shortcomings, it is a result of other executives not “pulling their weight.”

“It’s a serious issue that we faced, I must say, because I think I could see in the rear-view mirror that people within the Federation were not pulling weight and we were able to change that, at least in one instance in the General Secretary,” Hudson said.

According to Hudson, “So I am disappointed very, very disappointed because the mechanism that we’ve been using in the last couple of years to get athletes to competitions was as a direct result, and I can say without any fear or contradiction, it was a direct result of financial input from me.”

Hudson said the AAG knew they were late with the submission of a long list of athletes to the GOA, but cautioned, “the requirements for submitting a long list is not just a list of names and the GOA takes it…it’s a comprehensive list with passport information and all the rest of it. If athletes do proper registration at the beginning of the year, then it’s easy to transition that information over.”

“We had back-and-forth with our athletes residing overseas, especially those preparing for the new year, saying that these games are coming too late. So we’re blundered, I’m not going away from that; the AAG blundered in a major way, but as a result of that blunder, we made our pleading at the level that GOA says it’s not us, it’s them that would not open this thing for you,” Hudson said.

Hudson said the AAG made several attempts to have the athletes registered, even with the South American Games’ custodian, the Organización Deportiva Suramericana (ODESUR) of which Guyana (GOA) is one of 15 National Olympic Committees that are members.

Meanwhile, Hudson is of the view that the GOA could’ve been more accommodating, rather than being what he calls, “punitive” when the AAG fell short.

Hudson reasoned that the GOA in recent times, have blanked the AAG’s every request for assistance in various areas, including administratively.

Track and Field, at the 11th edition of the South American Games in Bolivia, ended their participation with three of the five medals won for Guyana.

It was at the 2018 South American Games where Leslain Baird threw 78.65 metres to not only finish second, but also set a new national record in the Men’s Javelin.

Winston George had clocked 45.67s to finish third in the men’s 400m, while Jenea McCammon’s 13.39s at the games in the women’s 100m hurdles, which saw her running third, also became the country’s new National Record in the event.

McCammon would later go on to lower her record time to 13.27s when she competed at the Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC).

Keevin Allicock and Colin Lewis’ bronze were the other medals added to the country’s tally of five in the central Bolivian City of Cochabamba.

Hudson, relating the success of track and field at the various multisport events, should be accommodated, even if they fall short.

The AAG head, who’s serving a third term in office, believes the AAG will have to tighten-up administratively going forward.

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