… Jackson delighted with turnout

THERE are many benchmarks for what makes an elite athlete, and four-time Olympic medallist, Ato Boldon, yesterday enlightened an attentive audience of Guyanese administrators on how to identify and develop their elite athletes, as the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport-sponsored National Sports Management Workshop continued at the Resource Centre.Boldon’s presentation under the heading ‘Development of Elite Athletes – A Framework for Progress’ identified some of the behavioural patterns that he observed, over years, among elite athletes.
Warning that athletes should not be written off basically because they may not fit the conventional criteria for what make up an elite athlete, the track and field broadcaster regaled the audience with tales of his development to becoming an elite athlete himself.
“It was because I was comfortable with the uncomfortable; I was comfortable with things that would kill everybody else,” Boldon shared, talking about his days of training as an athlete.
Boldon also delved into the kind of mindset that elite athletes usually have, noting that building an elite athlete is a progressive journey.
“Elite athletes look at the small goals instead of focusing on the big picture. Elite athletes understand that the big games come from the little steps … (they) improve a little each day and that is where the progress comes from.” Boldon said.
Meanwhile, Trinidad Olympian Grace Jackson, who also made a presentation on elite athletes prior to Boldon’s presentation, shared with Chronicle Sport that she was very pleased with the turnout at the three-day workshop which began on Wednesday.
Both presentations followed an earlier session on Sports Marketing where those in attendance were given pointers on critical issues such as garnering corporate sponsorship and the mutualistic relationship that sports administrations share with the media.
The morning session was opened by the president of the Tourism and Hospitality Association and former Rugby union president, Kit Nascimento, who spoke about important issues that administrations should consider before the hosting of a sporting event.
The workshop got more interactive when Marketing and Communication Practitioner, Michelle Johnson, took the floor to explain what companies are looking for when sporting associations approach for corporate sponsorship to raise funds.
The Republic Bank representative pointed out that it was all about presentation, noting that conflict within sporting bodies usually dissuade corporations from wanting to put money behind good sporting initiatives.
“When a business supports an event it’s a unique marketing opportunity. Companies want value for their money, financial accountability is very important to us. If you are going to seek sponsorship do not approach with a sense of entitlement or self-importance … organisations are under no obligations to give money, and there are systems in place that need to be followed,” Johnson said.
Johnson warned that other factors that discouraged corporations from sponsoring included demands for unrealistic sums without justification, tardy receipt of requests, as well unknown budgets, lack of other fundraising activities, and unwarranted follow-up correspondence.
The afternoon session of the workshop closed with presentations from Jackson, Digicel’s Jacqueline James, and June Rudder who presented ‘Connecting with the People – Through Event Planning and Management”.
The workshop is set to conclude today.

(By Tamica Garnett)