Sports plan completed, says Dr Anthony
MINISTER of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony yesterday hailed 2010 as a successful year for sports in Guyana, citing the hosting of several international events at the Guyana National Stadium, coupled with the erection of several infrastructures. “Guyana hosted several international events at the Guyana National Stadium in 2010, starting with the ICC T20 tournament, where all the infrastructures that were constructed for the ICC’s 2007 World Cup were utilised, and persons who came in 2007 were expecting a grand time and services at the stadium and they were not disappointed.
The comments we received from some individuals were great for Guyana. Some persons were looking to come back, so we are exploring the opportunities to have international cricket in Guyana on a yearly basis as often as possible, commencing with the Pakistan tour next year.”
He continued, “Our national team did well in the inaugural West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Regional T20 tournament, which earned us the right to compete in the Airtel Champions League in South Africa and even though we failed to win a match there, we reviewed our performances and identified what went wrong and will be working to correct same with a view of not repeating the same mistakes ….”
Touching on the division within the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Dr Anthony said there is a total of 30 national associations who are governed by their own constitution, with some of them being affiliated to international bodies.
“With cricket, there is a number of grievances at the administrative level and when my Ministry was asked to intervene as a mediator, a number of issues were raised and based on our recommendations, next year should be better for cricket.
“I say so confidently, since amongst the issues raised was the auditing of the books, wherein an independent auditor was appointed by the MCYS to look at the GCB’s books and report back to us and when that is done, the public will be made aware of the findings.”
He continued, “Come next year we will be looking to work along with the GCB at having about 25 to 30 of our cricketers in an elite programme, wherein they will be engaged in year-round training constantly under the watchful eyes of specialists so that when they have engagements coming up, they will be in top shape.
“It is time we approach sports differently and I think cricket would be the perfect one to start with, then we transfer it to the other sports such as football, basketball, boxing and even squash, with the players being given a monthly stipend.”
With a gleeful smile on his face, Dr Anthony informed Chronicle Sport of the completion of the sports plan, which was circulated to various associations for recommendations and approval.
“We have completed the sports plan, with the assistance of a Canadian consultant who worked along with the MCYS in finalising same, before we circulated to several associations for their perusal and recommendations and based on what we received, we have done some amendments and will be releasing the plan late next month.”
Dr Anthony also revealed his plans for next year, which included the implementation of a Long Term Athletes Development Programme (LTADP), similar to what is being used in Canada, as well as the opening of the Racquet Centre and the Olympic-size swimming pool within the first quarter.
Other items on his agenda for 2011 include the commencement of the second phase of the synthetic athletics track, the development of the Guyana Karate College, strengthening the Guyana Chess Federation’s (GCF) National Schools Championship and the completion of the resurfacing of the inner circuit of the National Park to the benefit of our local cyclists.
All this and more will be expounded on in the second part of the Dr Anthony’s sports review entitled: Successful year for Sports.