By Michelangelo Jacobus
As we get closer to the end of another year of mixed fortunes for sport in Guyana, there still remains a glaring bug bear. Therefore, my aim is to keep hitting this one nail on the head continuously until the relevant authorities see it fit to address what has become a glaring issue in Guyana’s sport community; the lack of a National Sports Policy.
Guyana is full of raw talent and potential but without any firm plan for the development of our young athletes; that is all it will remain as, just potential.
That being said the Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Sport, Dr George Norton on Wednesday rolled out his ministry’s plan for 2018 and while it included some positives such as facilities being built in different regions of the country, we are yet to see the materialization of a National Sports Policy.
This is where a National Sports Policy is supposed to be of utmost importance, the outline of any good Policy should be to address the structures, programmes and infrastructure required for recreational and high performance sport and how best to facilitate and support the achievement of sport objectives over a period of time.
I can point to a country that is easily half the geographical size of Guyana; Iceland whose population is in the area of 330,000. Iceland’s performance in sports internationally has risen steadily over the last decade or so; more specifically in football. From being ranked 112th in the world in 2010, Iceland’s national football team has risen a staggering 93 places up ranking 19th as of July 2017. In addition they have also qualified for their first world cup slated for 2018.
How did a country that small rise so steadily in the space of time since 2010? A vested interest from their government in sports and heavy investment in infrastructure, that’s how. Gudian Thordarson a national Icelandic coach embodied this best when he said “I think the biggest thing is the facilities we’ve got now.” The country has facilities in every single district, however along with those facilities; the government has brought in highly qualified coaches.
Thodarson maintained “this is not something that has happened out of the blue, we have qualified coaches all the way down to the youth level.” It is not only in football that Iceland has been doing well in but also in other sports such as basketball and handball.
Promising young athletes such as World Junior 400m Silver Medalist Daniel Williams is certain to leave the country in the new year as he seeks greener pastures in the USA, the same could be said for Chantoba Bright who has been head and shoulders above her competitors in the jumping pits not only in Guyana but in South America and the Caribbean. A Sports Policy would ensure that such athletes have the same opportunities and access to high level coaching and further development right here at home in Guyana. While “Jack must be given his jacket” the development of sport facilities country wide should not be a marker for the development of sport but Minister Norton should push for the country to develop a National Sports Policy. In 2018 we can only hope that the Minister whose vision for sport has so far been unprecedented has the support that is needed to put Guyana on the map.
