IT WAS with a heavy heart, I accepted the words from Director of Sport within the National Sports Commission (NSC), when he informed me that there will be no athletics competition at the first leg of this year’s Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) which is set for today in Guyana.

The host country will be engaging their Surinamese counterparts in football, chess, table tennis and cycling, but sadly, no athletics – a discipline which has been the backbone of these Games, following its resuscitation in 1993, following an absence for a number of years.
Recently, the buzz within the athletics fraternity has surrounded the upcoming fourth annual Boyce and Jefford Classic, which sees athletes from Guyana and even across the Caribbean compete in sprint and middle-distance events with cash prizes up for grabs.
Are we saying that the bigger picture here is having the athletes compete just for monetary gain (even though there is nothing wrong with that, since they have to earn a living) and shelve the thought of providing competition for them, even at the amateur stage of their careers?
According to a source from within the NSC and one who chose to remain anonymous, that department within the Ministry of Sport has expended close to G$2M on athletics this year, which included the payment of airfare for Kadecia Baird and her coach.
I am not saying that the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) should be at the beck and call of the NSC, but, as it relates to providing competition to those individuals under their charge, every opportunity, when given, should be utilised and certainly the IGG is one of those opportunities.
This is not a case of the AAG having to provide funds for a team to travel overseas, wherein they would have been clamouring for financial support from Corporate Guyana. The Games will be held in Guyana and the NSC has the sole responsibility to provide, food, accommodation and transportation for the athletes from both countries.
And speaking about the Boyce and Jefford Classic, which has brought with it lots of excitement and keen competition for our athletes, has there ever been an accountability process for this event which is now in its fourth year of existence?
This is not an attack on my friend Edison Jefford, but being a former athlete (or claims to be), I am sure he would readily agree with me when I say the AAG could have used the IGG as a warm-up event for some of the athletes who will be competing in the Classic.
Even some businesses within Corporate Guyana would welcome the thought of some of the athletes showcasing their talent in an event prior to the hosting of the Classic, since it is their money which is being used as prizes for the respective winners and clubs.
Accountability in sports in recent times has been a bugbear especially in Guyana where many associations have been found wanting, and it would be a shame if the AAG, whose president is currently in Russia for the IAAF Congress, is one of the delinquent associations who have not submitted an audited financial report to either the NSC or Ministry of Sport.
When Kumar was asked to give his opinion on the Boyce and Jefford Classic, he said without hesitation: athletes have been asking the question, how much money the organisers of this event have been receiving, since they are seeing many presentations, but no amounts being mentioned.
I am not saying that athletics should not be supported by Corporate Guyana, but at the last AAG Annual General Meeting where the-then president Colin Boyce was ousted, no Financial Report was submitted and it is this same AAG under its new president Aubrey Hudson, who is strongly giving precedence to the Boyce and Jefford Classic, while they failed to field a team for the IGG.
The perfect individuals who would have benefited from participating in the IGG for the AAG are those athletes who form the incubator stage for the association, some of whom would not be able to compete gainfully at the Boyce and Jefford Classics, due to age.
I can recall years ago when you hear athletes talking about GUYSTAC and LINMINE Games, even my mom, aunts and uncles prepared assiduously to represent their various places of employment at these Games.
The introduction of the IGG served as an added boost to the athletics fraternity, while later on, there was the Joint Services Athletics meeting and in the case of the Guyana Police Force and Guyana Defence Force, their Inter-department meeting for athletes.
Prior to penning this piece, I made several attempts to get into contact with vice-president of the AAG and my school mate Gavin Hope, but it was all futile. I needed to know what excuse (if any) the AAG would have given me as it relates to their non-participation in the IGG, after being given ample notification.
It is my hope that when these Games are held next year, the same amount of priority is given as any other Games and event, even the fifth edition of the Boyce and Jefford Classics, for if not, Hudson and company would have failed in one part of their mandate, which is to supply competitions for their athletes.