SEVERAL official statements as well as information in the media with respect to the identity of the Champion of Champions at the 2009 National Track, field, swimming, cycling and teachers’ championships have prompted this letter.
I travelled to Region Six to cheer on District 10 for the final of the 2009 national championships, and was present at the conclusion of the event when District 10 was declared the winner. I subsequently posed for several photos with the District 10 athletes which were published in our national media proclaiming the success of District 10 in achieving this honour.
To my dismay, however, I was present at the opening of the 2010 National Championships where the official Master of Ceremony of the opening ceremony for this year’s games declared that District 11 was the defending champion. Thinking that this must have been an honest error, I looked past this declaration at that moment. I subsequently stopped the Master of Ceremony for the 2010 National Championships, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education Phulander Khanai at the conclusion of this ceremony, and enquired of him whether he made an error in his announcement of District 11 as the defending champions, and in the presence of other persons with me at the time he acknowledged that he had indeed made an error and that District 10 are the defending champions. It was therefore very frustrating to see this erroneous statement repeated in the national newspapers of Wednesday November 10, 2010, especially since the 2009 Champion of Champions trophy has been held here in Linden by District 10 for the entire year, with no information regarding a change in its status of award to us.
Since over the year that our Region and District has been proudly savouring its achievement after tremendous effort and sacrifice, we have not been informed of any occurrence which would result in District 11 being declared the winners of the 2009 championship. I am calling on the Guyana Teachers’ Union as the officiating body for these games to ensure that our athletes from District 10 are accorded the deserving honour of being publicly acknowledged as the defending champions for these 50th anniversary National Schools’ Championship, as should be fitting. I have decided to go public with this appeal. In addition to writing to the Guyana Teachers’ Union and the Ministry of Education given that these championships are currently being contested and the publication of this erroneous information may have a negative and de-motivating impact on the athletes from our region and district.
Thank you for your assistance in addressing this matter and I look forward to a keenly contested and incident free games for 2010.