PRESIDENT of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAAG) Aubrey Hutson, along with Director of Sport Christopher Jones, agreed that the June 3-4 South American Youth American Championships, which will be hosted at the Leonora Track and Field Centre, will be a ‘litmus test’ for the two entities.
For the AAG, Huston said that it will be a test to see whether or not his association has the ability to execute a major event; an important one for the IAAF and their South American Athletics Confederation (CONSUDATLE) affiliate, while Jones said for the National Sports Commission and the Government of Guyana, it will be a test to see if they’re ready to invest in an event of such magnitude; one that will bring together the 13 countries in South America.
In fact, it is the first time an event of such nature and scale will be held in Guyana. The closest Guyana came to see several countries participate at the Leonora facility was during last year’s hosting of the inaugural Aliann Pompey Invitational Classic.
“To have international championships of this magnitude hosted in Guyana, it gives an opportunity to showcase Guyana and our tourism package,” Jones said at the launching of the championships yesterday in Georgetown.
“Our athletes over the years have been performing at their best, as we would have seen by those at the just concluded CARIFTA Games and of course those athletes will be on show in Guyana.
Guyanese have to come out and support our athletes at these events, but, more so as I often state, it is apposite to believe that government and government alone has the responsibility to develop sports in Guyana,” Jones said, while making a call for corporate agencies to get on board.
Banks DIH, under their Powerade and Rainforest Waters brands, are on board, as well as Ministry of Tourism, but Jones made it clear that the enormous budget, which the Government of Guyana through the NSC is prepared to heavily subsidise, leaves room for other agencies to come on board..
Meanwhile, for Hutson, the AAG boss, pointed out that the championships being hosted in Guyana was a testimony of the country’s athletes performing well at several international engagements, especially at the 2015 South American Championships, hosted in Ecuador and this year’s CARIFTA Games.
“We’ve demonstrated that we’re an athletic nation and that’s done not by the number of stadiums we have around the country but by the performance of our athletes. Now South America is ready to come visit because they think we have the calibre of athletes to give them a good championship,” Hutson explained.
However, the AAG president explained that hosting the premier event on the CONSUDATLE calendar, comes with parameters at a magnitude beyond his knowledge of athletics and to some extent, hosting events.
“We were competing with Chile for these championships and why Guyana got the nod was because what we thought would’ve been bad for us, was good for them (CONSUDATLE). We’re below sea level. With that said, they (CONSUDATLE) feel that the distance athletes coming out of countries like Peru and Colombia, they think they can run faster here since this will also be a qualifier for the IAAF World Championship coming up in August (5-13),” said Hutson.
An estimated 350 athletes, according to the AAG, will be in Guyana for the historic hosting of one of South America’s most anticipated championship.