FOLLOWING several cries for help that was made publicly and a direct appeal, His Excellency President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday made a donation of US$10,000 (G$2m) to the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) which enables their full participation at both the Pan Am Games and NACRA Championships.
At a press briefing held in the boardroom of the Guyana Olympic Association’s Office, High Street Kingston yesterday morning, GRFU president Christopher Nascimento said President Jagdeo’s input was a timely one.
“I will be honest with you and say that were it not for this timely intervention by His Excellency President Jagdeo, we at the GRFU would have had to sit and decide on whether to compete in the Pan Am Games which will be held in Guadalajara Mexico from 14th to 30th October, or defend our VII’s title at the NACRA championships in Barbados.
I have said it time and time again, any team that is giving their country international recognition such as our rugby football team, deserves support from their Government in order to not only compete, but be able to do so at the highest level where they can gain more experience,” said Nascimento.
According to Nascimento, the cost to compete in both championships is an enormous one and despite the US$5,000 (G$1m) they received from both the Edward B Beharry Group of Companies and the International Rugby Union (IRU), the GRFU was still off target.
“This sponsorship from President Jagdeo will not only enable us to compete in both tournaments, but will also enable us to bring in our three overseas players in Kevin Mc Kenzie and Dominic Lespoir from Australia along with Rupert Giles from England, with both Lespoir and Giles joining the team in Mexico next Monday, while Mc Kenzie will come straight to Guyana.
Added to that, our participation in the NACRA championships of which we are the defending male and female champions will be given a boost, as we would be heading to Barbados two weeks after the Pan Am Games, which is a higher level of competition and serves as a fillip to us.”
According to the GRFU chairman of selectors Mike Mc Cormack, who along with head coach Theodore Henry, Youth development Officer Troy Yhip and Match Secretary John Lewis were present at yesterday’s briefing.  Guyana has been given the number one seed in both the men and women category of the NACRA VII’s championships which has attracted record entries in both categories.
Despite such, Mc Cormack says he is not taking the other teams lightly in both categories which has 16 entries in the males and 11 for the females, as they are strong teams despite their seeding, saying they were rated based on the activeness.
“Even though we have been rated as the number one team, the other teams such as USA South are strong teams. Even to St. Lucia, British Virgin Islands and Curacao, who are grouped with us in group A of the men’s category, are worthy opponents, while USA South had a seeding of number four at the last NACRA tournament,” said Mc Cormack.
He is of the opinion that the Guyanese who have benefitted from the services of a fitness coach, who began working with the teams, especially the women whose biggest challenge was fitness, but was not hesitant in saying the recently concluded Joint Services Athletics championships took away many players.
Mc Cormack did not question the skill level of the foreign based players, but rather their fitness and to this extent they will undergo a beep test, the final one before the team’s departure on Thursday morning at a venue to be announced.
Nascimento added “While Guyana is a formidable force to be reckoned with in the male category of rugby as we are ranked at number six in the South and North American regions, our women’s team is not fully developed for international competition as there is still a large amount of progress to be made.
The GRFU has the expertise to make this happen, but unfortunately we are lacking the funds to do so and if we can get the assistance from the Government, which is much needed, then certainly we can get our women’s team to be on par with the men.”
The 16 teams who will be competing in the NACRA VII’s Championships in Barbados according to their seeding are: Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Cayman Islands, Barbados, St Lucia, British Virgin Islands, Martinique, Bermuda, Guadeloupe, St Vincent and Grenadines, USA (South), Turks and Caicos and Curacao.
On the distaff side, Guyana heads Group A which also includes St. Lucia, Mexico, USA (South) and host Barbados, while Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Canada, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Guadeloupe are in Group B.