“It’s just something we had to do”

— Hutson on SA U23 hosting rights

With their national age group meets done and dusted for 2021, the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) are now turning their focus to the South American Under 23 and Junior Pan American Games.
The AAG gave up their rights to host this year’s Under 23 Championships, but AAG President Aubrey Hutson says it’s just something they had to do.
The South American Under 23 Championships were first scheduled to be held in September in Guyana, but the coronavirus pandemic forced a change of plans, like it did in so many other sports; and having exhausted all their options to have the meet hosted locally, the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) gave up their hosting rights, and the event is now set for October 16 and 17 in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Bringing clarity to that decision was AAG President Aubrey Hutson, who explained why it was handed over to current host country Ecuador.
“I think it is something we felt we had to do. This is, I mean we are a very integral part of the South American family, and everybody in South America knows that we approach track and field in Guyana not on a selfish basis, but looking at the holistic development of South American athletics,” Hutson divulged.
“And we thought it best to give particularly Ecuador the opportunity to host another championship, seeing that they would have done so well at the South American Senior Championships. All the conditions were right, we got very, very good reports, and we just started to do something that we had to do for them,” he concluded on the topic.
Turning his attention to the competition itself and what it means for Guyanese athletes, Hutson said he is keen on seeing Guyanese athletes qualify for the Junior Pan American Games.
“So yes, it’s a good opportunity for those who fall within the junior level, who will be able to showcase their skills once again. And, you know, we look down the road to see how good they can do at the end of the day at Pan Am,” he said.
Expounding on the topic of the Junior Pan American Games, Hutson revealed that the inaugural event is the AAG’s main focus at the moment, in hope that it would push Guyana’s athletes to qualify for the Commonwealth Games next year.
Hutson explained, “Well, look, every day I’m receiving calls for new additions to this team — people who feel that they should have been there did not have enough preparation time, and all the rest of it. But I must apologise to those people. The time has really and truly gone when we were supposed to submit our long list to the GOA to have it sorted out for the Pan Am, because the objective here is Pan Am.
Yes, we’re going to go to South America and compete and look to have good bragging rights, you know, earning medals at the South American level. But the objective is Pam, and Pan Am is going to give us a good record stick to judge who will be going on to Commonwealth Games next year,” Hutson explained.
The Junior Pan American Games are scheduled to be held from November 25 to December 5 in Cali, Colombia.