LINDEN athletes recently made the headlines for returning from the CARIFTA Games with gold and silver medals.
And while some did not achieve medals, they did their personal best. Most of those athletes belong to one of the two track clubs in Linden: The Christianburg Wismar Secondary School (CWSS) Track Club.
This club, based on the Wismar shore, is headed by Coach Moses Pantlitz, who is a part-time Physical Education teacher at CWSS.
The indefatigable Compton Caesar is a member of that club, as is Cassey George, whose three golds and one silver at the CARIFTA Games have made her somewhat of a sensation at home here in Linden.
Other athletes to have represented Guyana at the CARIFTA and Commonwealth Youth Games and other international meets that have been trained by the CWSS Track Club are Onasha Rogers, whose PB (personal best) of 11:80 has made her the top female sprinter in Guyana currently; Tremaine Brown; Jermaine Simmons; and Mian McPherson.
According to Coach Pantlitz, the Club has been in existence since 2012, and has been a success since then. “This club has been in existence for five years and I think this club has more success than any other club in Guyana…
“We have Ms Cassey George, who is a three-time gold medallist and silver medallist at CARIFTA,” Pantlitz said.

“We also have Mr. Compton Caesar, who is a gold and a bronze medallist; he has attended World Youths and Commonwealth Youths in one year, which is a big achievement.
“We have Ms Onasha Rogers, who has come a long way from injuries; last weekend, she did a 100m in Guyana, and her PB is 11:80, which is the fastest in Guyana for the year. And that puts her right now as the top female sprinter in the country.”
While the club is named after CWSS, the members are drawn from all Primary and Secondary Schools across Linden. There are children as young as six who are members of the Club. And while there are many challenges, from limited resources to limited facilities, Pantlitz believes that it is the regular training, the discipline that is required, and the willingness of the athletes that make the Club the success it is.
“Training is being done weekdays from 16:00 to 18:00hrs, and on Saturday and sometimes Sunday mornings…
“The morning training is mostly done on the road; condition training we normally do,” Pantlitz revealed.
On weekdays, the athletes train at the Bayroc Ground, one of the grounds earmarked for the synthetic track to be placed in Linden.
NO-NONSENSE
Despite coaching the athletes voluntarily, Pantlitz believes that it’s his dedication and love for his charges that really matters.
“As a coach, I am a fighter! Slackness I don’t tolerate! When you come to CWSS Track Club or you come to Bayroc Ground to train, you have to come with your ‘A-GAME’; and you have to come with your discipline!
“I turn no one down, but I tell you plain, ‘If you don’t have discipline, don’t turn up!’ because I deal a lot with discipline,” he said.
He is particularly proud of the junior athletes that are now making their names. “The competition at the junior and the youth level, when we go down to running, we brought away a lot of Second Places. And when there are international meets, for the past five years there is always somebody from CWSS will be taking part from the Guyana squad; and they will do personal best,
“One of our biggest achievements is what Mr. Caesar has done this year; it was not done for 45 years in Guyana. Winning the 100m Boys Under-20, that is a big achievement for himself, family, club and even Guyana on the whole.”
Currently, the Club is hard at work, preparing athletes for the South American Games billed for this weekend at the Leonora Stadium.
Some of the athletes that will be representing the Club and Guyana are Jermaine Simmons, Rondell Newton, Mian McPherson, Hosea Glen, Onasha Rogers and Compton Caesar. Tremaine Brown and Onasha Rogers will also be representing Guyana next month at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Bahamas.
Onasha Rogers, who was running since she was eight years old, joined the club when she was 11. Today, at 17, she describes the experience as an indescribable one.
“I’ve learnt a lot, travelled a lot, and it has been a good experience for me,” she said. The Mackenzie High student who is currently writing her CXCs explained that balancing school and training is not easy, but the motivation from her coach encourages her to push forward.
“Training isn’t easy; training is hard. After training, I usually go home; then I have to study. Sometimes I am tired, but I have to build my mind to do it; it is not easy,” she said.
Tremaine Brown, a jumper, said he owes everything he’s become as an athlete to the Club. “When I first joined the club, I couldn’t do anything; couldn’t jump properly, couldn’t run properly, couldn’t do anything,” he said.
Jermaine Simmons, meanwhile, has broken records at Nationals and represented Guyana at the CARIFTA Games. “Training is very hard,” he told the Guyana Chronicle. “Some days you might not get it, but you still have to come out here and do your thing.”
Hosea Glen has been at it for two years, and with the help of Coach Pantlitz, he will be representing Guyana at the South America Games this weekend in the 400m hurdles, something he has never done before.
“It’s a big plus for me; first time I am doing it. I feel like a lot of people are depending on me; I feel kind of nervous, but I am really looking forward to going and executing, and being part of history,” the young Wisburg Secondary student said.
“My coach, he is a real inspiration; hardworking. I love my coach; because of him, I am here, and I have been granted a lot of opportunities,” he added.