DIRECTOR of Sport within the National Sports Commission (NSC) Neil Kumar yesterday morning challenged the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) to produce more medallists this year, following up on the success story they had yesterday.He was at the time, opening the GBA’s Referees/Judges Refresher course at the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) High Street, Kingston-located boardroom, in the presence of GBA president Steve Ninvalle, Technical Director Terrence Poole and James Beckles of Trinidad and Tobago who is an International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) Referee/Judge and a trained facilitator.

“I want to congratulate the GBA in the first place for organising this Referee/Judges Course, which I view as very important, even as I say special thanks to Mr Beckles for being here so early in the year, especially after the just concluded festive season,” said Kumar.
He called on the media to follow the GBA closely, saying it is the lone Sports Association to produce to the NSC a detailed plan under the ‘Road to Rio de Janiero’ proposal and they need to be complimented.
“We cannot work without having a plan. We have to have a short-, medium- and long-term plan and I think that boxing is one of the disciplines which have a long-term plan, both at the professional and amateur levels, when you look at how they work closely together to coordinate the monthly Friday Night Fights.
“Now we have the GBA running off a refresher course for their referees/judges and this is great, for while Mr Poole is doing an extremely good job here, getting better and better, I would like to see our boxers medalling more at the international level this year,” said Kumar.
He added, “Particularly with the aim of qualifying for Brazil in 2016 and I wish to congratulate our referees/judges and I honestly feel that they have been a major improvement in this department and I wish to congratulate them, while reminding them to continue to be fair.
“Definitely I would like to see them improve more and more, since the boxers are in their hands and you must be the one to make the better judgment, while I thank the GBA for being so early with this programme, even as I extend special thanks to Mr. Beckles for being here with us once again, even as I look forward to working with the GBA and other Associations for further development in 2014.”
In his opening remarks, Ninvalle applauded Kumar and the GOA, whom he described as being instrumental in facilitating Beckles’ trip to Guyana for the course which runs for a period of five days, with the first three being theoretical and the latter two practical at the Andrew ‘Sixhead’ Lewis gym.
“It is important that the participants become sponges and take in all the information Mr Beckles has to offer. We know that AIBA is changing its rules regularly and Mr Beckles is part and parcel of the GBA, which is trying to keep you up to date with what is going on in the amateur boxing arena.
“His visit here could not have been possible without the input of our Director of Sport Neil Kumar, who has always been willing to put his shoulders to the wheel as it relates to amateur boxing in Guyana and its development and I wish to say thanks to him, the NSC and special thanks to the GOA,” said Ninvalle.
He thanked Beckles for making the time to come and share with the local referees/judges the new developments as they unfold from AIBA and urged the participants to tap into his knowledge over the next five days without fear and favour.
Meanwhile, Beckles thanked the GBA for having him to conduct the course, saying that it is not limited to Guyana alone, since he will be journeying over to Barbados when his tenure here is over, to conduct a similar course.
On the same note, he said the GBA and most countries within the Caribbean lack constant training as is being done in Trinidad and Tobago, while he hinted at the Trinidad and Tobago Boxing Association inviting presidents from boxing associations across the Caribbean, to have a first hand look at their national championships which is a five-day affair.
“What we intend doing is invite some of the presidents to come to T&T to view our championships, interact with our local body and see how things work there, so that you can design your own structure as it relates to the work of the referees/judges” said Beckles.
According to Ninvalle, a total of 20 participants will be attending the seminar, at the end of which a Certificate of Participation would be issued to each participant.
Written By Calvin Roberts