Ninvalle brings peace to Judo feud
Darren Elcock
Darren Elcock

… Darren Elcock now cleared to represent Guyana

DARREN Elcock, a Guyanese world-class Judo athlete, can finally put to rest his years-long battle to represent Guyana on the international stage in the sport, thanks to Steve Ninvalle, president of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA).

Unrelated to Judo, Ninvalle, though being at the helm of the fistic sport in Guyana, felt that he could serve as a mediator between Elcock and president of the Guyana Judo Association (GJA) Raul Archer.

The Canada-based Elcock recently held a press conference and related his frustration at the way in which his request to don the colours of the ‘Golden Arrowhead’ on the world stage had been blocked by the GJA; something Archer had later refuted.

Speaking to Chronicle Sport yesterday, Ninvalle, who is also the Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Social Cohesion, related that after learning about the public back-and-forth between Elcock and the GJA, in his personal capacity he contacted both parties for mediation.

Ninvalle met with Archer late last week and on Tuesday was able to bring the two parties together for frank discussions aimed at removing hurdles. Following the meeting, the two sides agreed to bury the hatchet and an agreement was reached resulting in the GJA endorsing the 22-year-old Elcock.

Steve Ninvalle

“It’s about putting Guyana first. If any sport is hurting then the logical thing would be to find a remedy.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re the president of one organisation. If you could step in to help another and bring some resolution to an issue then you should, because oftentimes, those issues hurt the athletes, not the administrators.

“When the elephants fight the trees get trampled. So this was me, in my personal capacity, reaching out and attempting to assist in resolving this problem in Judo,” Ninvalle said.
“I just feel relieved that this is over and I can now focus on representing Guyana,” Elcock told Chronicle Sport when contacted.

“I want to say thanks to Mr Ninvalle who acted in a very mature, professional and organised manner. I must also extend gratitude to the president and executive of the Judo Association,” Elcock added.

Elcock who holds a Cadet, Junior and Senior Canadian title, said he can now truly focus on competing on the International Judo Federation (IJF) tour, and begin his journey to the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.

The 23rd Central American and Caribbean Games will be held in Barranquilla, Colombia from July 19 to August 3, and Elcock made known of his desires to feature at the event, adding, “Something I would love to do, and will actually begin the way forward to see how that could be possible.”

“I think this is important and huge for the sport of Judo, because I know that I could represent this country (Guyana) with pride and can give them recognition in the sport as well. As I said, I’m relieved, so now we can actually focus on competing,,” the young judoka declared.

With several notable international acclaims to his name, Elcock could very well be one of the highest-profile athletes to represent Guyana in the sport which had its origin in Japan, in 1882.

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