Associations will be responsible for athletes after ‘Nationals’

By Michelangelo Jacobus

After the 56th National Schools’ Cycling, Swimming and Track and Field Championships last year, a list of 37 track and field athletes were chosen by then commissioner on the National Sports Commission (NSC) board, Edison Jefford and submitted to the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG). The purpose of that list was to ensure that those selected were included in national camps and trials for championships at home and abroad.

Among those athletes were Compton Caesar, Daniel Williams and Kenisha Phillips just to name a few. Since then, the trio has gone on to reap significant success locally and on the international stage with Caesar copping 100 metre Gold at CARIFTA games and the South American U-20 Championships which was held in Guyana earlier this year.
Williams has also claimed success and international acclaim winning 400 metre silver at the World Youth Championships in Nairobi, Kenya while Phillips has performed admirably as well.
Guyana Times Sport spoke with Director of Sport Christopher Jones on Tuesday, who gave all assurance that the trend of outstanding student/athlete selection is set to continue at this year’s Championship (also called ‘Nationals’) however, the list will be adjusted to accommodate athletes from swimming and cycling.
Those athletes that will be identified this year will again be submitted to their ‘parent associations’ with the aim of being included in national camps and trials for upcoming championships.

However, this time around Jones warned; “the National Sports Commission will be scrutinizing the respective associations’ selection ahead of championships/meets and if any of those selected athletes are excluded, the association responsible for those specific athletes will have to provide a very feasible reason for their exclusion before funds are granted or approved for the association. It will be used as a sort of check and balance by the Commission.”
In June of this year, this publication had a sit down with Jones who had revealed the NSC’s plan for implementing a nationwide plan for the development of young sportsmen and women throughout the 15 districts of the country where coaches and organizers residing in those particular districts would work in a cluster system.
That plan which is set to be established in 2018 was submitted to the Minister of Education Nicolette Henry who was at the time responsible for the Department of Youth, Culture and Sport; however that department has now been reassigned to Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr. George Norton.
Director Jones contended that while detailed surveys that are vital to the developmental plan have been done nationwide, he will now have to meet with Minister Norton to address the policy.
The development of sport in the hinterland regions is among Minister Norton’s first area of focus and the NSC’s plan will no doubt be of interest since it not only addresses mainstream sport disciplines but also seeks to implement disciplines that can be facilitated in some of those regions’ geographical layout. Notably, archery and kayaking are two disciplines that are earmarked by the commission for implementation.
It remains to be seen if this plan will be successfully injected into Guyana’s sport stream and maintained but if it succeeds then the future of sport in the country is in good hands.
Kudos must be given to the NSC for their initiative of ensuring athletes at the school level are now being given a chance to develop and represent their nation and as has been exemplified by Daniel Williams and Compton Caesar, Guyana can only stand to benefit from their development and success.