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Minister Ramson commits Government support CARIFTA Games athletes’ development
–Encourage athletes to focus on the positives
By Rawle Toney
Kaieteur News- Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., speaking to some of the country’s athletes who returned from this year’s CARIFTA Games in Trinidad and Tobago, encouraged them to stay the course, while pledging the Government of Guyana’s continued support in their development.
Social media was in a frenzy after Guyana’s largest-ever contingent to the CARIFTA Games, 42 athletes strong, wrapped up competition at the Hasely Crawford Stadium with five medals, falling short of expectations despite some standout performances.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr, addressing the CARIFTA Games athletes. (Rawle Toney photo)
“While as a nation we’re disappointed, it doesn’t change whether we are with you and are going to continue to support you,” Ramson stated.
Tianna Springer’s gold in the Girls’ U20 400m highlighted the campaign as the only top-of-the-podium finish for Guyana in Port-of-Spain.
Malachi Austin captured silver in the Boys’ U20 400m, while Attoya Harvey claimed bronze in the 1500m.
CARIFTA debutant Ebo McNeil earned bronze in the 3000m, while Rodel Greene delivered a bronze in the Boys’ U20 triple jump.
“Life always has its ups and downs,” the Sports Minister highlighted. “You’re going to have good days. You’re going to have bad days. There are lots of disappointments for athletes throughout their careers. But there are also lots of people or lots of countries experiencing the same thing. And just because you may have had a performance that didn’t match our expectations… that’s also an indication of what we believe in you.”
“We believe that you can achieve far more. That’s why there’s a level of disappointment. But you are also disappointed because you believe that you could have achieved far more. So that’s good. That means we are on the same page. You don’t want it to be that the people in the country don’t believe in you. And that’s why they’re not disappointed. They’re disappointed because everybody believes in you,” Minister Ramson said.
He added, “As far as the government is concerned, I want you to understand that when people have their disappointments, they have different ways of expressing that.”
He encouraged the athletes to block out the negative narratives being shared about their performance: “The ones that are negative, I just want you to push that out of your mind. Push that out of your mind because they have never achieved anything significant. The ones that are majorly critical don’t know what it takes to win. They’ve never achieved anything world-class, but they can sit behind a computer and be critical of some of our finest young athletes and be discouraging to them. And that’s not something I would ever do or ever stand for.”
Pledging the Government of Guyana’s continued support, Minister Ramson stated, “I want you to know, I have your back. The Government of Guyana has your back. The people in this country—there’s a good portion of them—despite the disappointment, are still wishing you well and want you to succeed.”
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