GOA Vice President Karen Pilgrim makes a presentation to Coach Sebert Blake in the presence of Keevin Allicock, GBA President Steve Ninvalle and GOA Head KA Juman Yassin
The Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) has, as expected, put its support behind Keevin Allicock, as he jets off today for Russia, in his journey to the Tokyo Olympics.
Olympics-bound boxer Keevin Allicock
In a simple ceremony on Monday, the GOA handed over monetary support to the boxer and his Coach Sebert Blake, who are expected to depart Guyana today. The monetary support did not come without words of advice and testaments of what adequate support can do for a budding athlete.
This was Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) President Steve Ninvalle’s main philosophy, when he had his time at the mic.
“The GBA is extremely elated to have Keevin make the Olympics. As I’ve said before, I was cautiously optimistic that he would’ve made that grade. It is the first time in 25 years and his qualification is a pillar for the sport of boxing in Guyana and it has rejuvenated many sectors of the sport, sectors meaning youth, junior, schoolboys and elite. And we expect him to give of his best,” Ninvalle, who is the recently-appointed Director of Sport, posited.
In listing some of the regional and international tournaments that the GBA pushed to have Keevin compete at, Ninvalle made his point, stating, “It just underlines fully, the need for support in having our athletes exposed and I wouldn’t be selfish and say this about boxing alone, but this is straight across the field. We need to have our athletes exposed.”
Sharing the GBA President’s sentiments was Coach Blake, who has been guiding the Olympics-bound boxer since 2014.
“We had the opportunity to get Keevin to all the levels of preparation in the whole Olympic cycle; today the fruit shows that if we go down that road, we can achieve it,” Blake said.
“I want to give Guyana our assurance that we’re going to try and do our utmost best, because for the last three years, myself and Keevin, especially, have been professing that we have to go to Japan, we have to go to the Olympics,” a confident Coach Blake related.
“It’s my dream also to coach a boxer to the Olympics, it came true,” he added candidly.
The man of the moment, Keevin Allicock, had nothing but gratitude to extend to those who have helped him along his journey.
“It’s a blessing for me to represent my country at such a high level. I want to say thanks to everyone that has supported me, whether it’s in advice, whether it’s a cheque, whether it’s a compliment, for every single thing that you’ve done for me,” Keevin began.
“This really means a lot to me; I’ve been making a lot of sacrifice over the years in order to meet to this point. I’ve been trusting in God my whole life, I never had no doubts about this, my Coach would have mentioned, I always told him in the gym, ‘we’re going to go to Tokyo’” the bantamweight pugilist concluded.
Before handing over the support, GOA President KA Juman Yassin had this bit of advice to share with the 22-year-old boxer:
“I want you to see yourself medaling, because if you don’t see yourself winning, then you’re not going to win. You have to be able to see that.”
Keevin Allicock will be involved in a high-performance training camp in Russia for three weeks before heading over to Tokyo for the July 23- August 8 Olympics. (Jemima Holmes)
