Guyana’s Director of Sport chats with Frederick Halley
THE thorny issue of the appointment of members of the National Sports Commission (NSC) since the term of the last members ended in 2000 is still engaging the attention of government, and Director of Sport Neil Kumar has disclosed that the new commission will be in place soon.

In a wide-ranging interview with Chronicle Sports, Kumar acknowledged that there’s need for the commission to be in place as without it, his work is more burdensome.

On another burning issue regarding the acquisition of a national stadium, Kumar is disappointed that Guyana has not yet acquired one since the turning-of-the-sod ceremony at Diamond, East Bank, Demerara a few years ago. Kumar was however confident that the government will find a suitable place, as promised, and with help from the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), national associations and sponsors, among others, the stadium will become a reality in the near future.

The Director of Sport said he intends to be fully behind the realisation of the stadium and will be pushing vigorously for something meaningful to be done this year. “We need high profile facilities, we need a stadium, we need a velodrome track, we need a tartan track and we are going to go a far way ….”

Pointing out that he was not on the defence, Kumar said these things however take time.

Kumar was also quick to point out that while sports facilities are important, they will only come with money. He pointed out that government has been putting a tremendous amount of money into sports through the Youth Choice Initiative, the Poverty Alleviation Fund, the Lotto Fund and the NSC, among institutions. “We must also talk of the fact that sponsorship is putting a lot of money into sport.”

Government, Kumar said must however prioritise when looking at sports as against health and education although much more money will be invested in sports.

According to Kumar, the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall has been serving its purpose while the several community centres across the country have also played key roles in the development of sportspersons and the Regional Democratic Councils have been very supportive.

Admitting that he had some problems with the allocation of funds to sports associations, Kumar sighted the case of the Amateur Athletic Association of Guyana, whose president had complained bitterly on the issue. That association, although trying, should have been concentrating more on field events since there is no proper track to run on. It should also provide more coaches at the school level and should be able to produce more than just Level One coaches, Kumar said. He however praised the Sapodilla Club of West Coast, Berbice who “was doing an excellent job”.

The much talked about Sports Policy and a National Coaches Association are two important areas Kumar intends to place much emphasis on in the new year. As regards the latter, he reckons there’s need for more in all sports disciplines on a more organised national level.

“In the Sports Policy, we have a mission statement. We want to have better coordination between the NSC, national associations, access funds at NGOs and in a planned way develop an approach to the sports stadium, develop sports from the cradle, right up to the grave …,” Kumar emphasised.

While criticising a section of the media, he stressed that the media in general has a pivotal role to play in the development of sports in Guyana.

Lectures on youth and sport and the fight against HIV/AIDS are also top priorities for the Director of Sport in 2002.

The director lauded the efforts of Guyanese sportsmen/women during 2001, singling out Andrew ‘Sixhead’ Lewis’s winning of the World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight title as the significant major achievement that was fully recognised by the Guyana government.

He also spoke of the other successes and disappointments of 2001 and his projections for the new year.

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) came in for high praise from the government official, who highlighted the fact that Guyana, for the first time, had six players in the West Indies Test side during the regional team’s tour of Zimbabwe.

Guyana’s performance in the Busta Cup and Busta International Shield were also very noteworthy with the home team placing second in the Busta Cup after finishing on 57 points, the same as winners Barbados, and reaching the Busta International Shield final where they lost on first innings to Jamaica.

The staging of the third consecutive Inter-secondary schools Under-19 tournament by the National Sports Commission, the GCB and the Ministry of Education and Guyana’s participation in the Caribbean’s women cricket championships after more than two decades were also high points during 2001.

Guyana also earned the right to host the 2002 women’s tournament that will comprise both limited overs and two-day matches. On a sad note, Kumar lamented the loss of stalwart woman’s cricket coach Dolly Lokanan in whose memory a tournament is currently being held.

The joint national coaching programme, deemed a success by the Director of Sport, also cemented the continued good relationship between the GCB and the NSC.

Kumar said he was extremely impressed with squash and the high profile functioning of the Guyana Squash Racquets Association and the young players who are coming up and dominating the game in the Caribbean.

The Guyana Japan Karate Association (GJKA) and its administration with Charles Woon-A-Tai at the helm was also a tower of strength as far as Kumar was concerned.

He was also heartened by the way netball had progressed through the efforts of coach Lavern Fraser-Thomas and the good relationship between the Guyana Netball Association and the NSC.

Table tennis, he argued is coming on extremely strong with a significant increase in schools participation.

“Our riflemen, despite not retaining the Caribbean championships, continue to do well.”

On the other hand, the director pointed out that he’s very disappointed with what is happening in football and is appealing to the entire nation to assist in solving what he thinks is a national problem.

Kumar claimed that the NSC wrote the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), seeking a meeting with that body and the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) but it never materialised.

Football has been plagued with numerous problems during the year, including what has been described as the “stadium fiasco” with blames being thrown “left, right and centre” when the turning of the sod for the proposed site at Turkeyen never materialised during the visit of FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

But while the problem exists at the higher level, the Coca Cola Under-19 tournament, organised by the NSC and sponsored by Banks DIH Limited, received high praise from Kumar. Some 87 schools participated in the 2001 tournament and this will be consolidated in the new year along with the introduction of a Pee Wee competition.

The annual Kashif & Shanghai football festival also earned kudos from the Director of Sport. He commended the organisers for their credibility and their ability to attract sponsorship. “It is very well run and administered. The GFF needs to take a page from the NSC and Kashif & Shanghai,” Kumar added.

“I would like to see stronger football clubs, stronger sub-associations particularly in West Demerara, East Coast, Linden and Georgetown and more football being played in Berbice,” he pointed out.

“In respect to some of the areas that are weak, I think we have a problem with sports administrators; the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association (GLTA) is in serious crisis, they didn’t have elections this year and they are haywire. The Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) is also having serious problems and without National cycling coach Hassan Mohamed and the NSC and a little help from a few outsiders, there’s virtually no cycling. The cycling federation needs to look at itself,” the outspoken Kumar observed.

The NSC, Kumar said, would like to assist the Guyana Basketball Federation but it also needs to sort out itself.

To supplement the GCF, the NSC plans to stage a National Schools cycling championships in 2002. Meetings will be held in the various regions with the best cyclists advancing to a National Championships, Kumar said.

Volleyball and table tennis schools championships, to be staged in conjunction with the Guyana Volleyball Federation (GVF) and the Guyana Table Tennis Association, are also in the pipeline for the new year.

“From the schools, I’ll be pushing for better clubs,” a confident Kumar revealed.