By Joe Chapman

– Coach Pantlitz

ONE of Guyana’s top flight athletics coaches Moses Pantlitz says that he would never jeopardise the CARIFTA Games for many reasons.

Pantlitz, coaching students of Christianburg Wismar Secondary School Track Club, who attended the Barbados Relay Fair, made the statement after his side missed the Amateur Athletics Association of Guyana (AAAG) first CARIFTA Games trials last Saturday.

The team to the Barbados relay festival picked up two gold and one bronze medals.

The Coach told Chronicle Sport ahead of his athletes participating in tomorrow’s (Sunday) trials at national Track and Field facility, “I will never jeopardise the CARIFTA Games for many reasons.”

At the same time coach Pantlitz took time to address his absence also from the Linden Games in the Mining Town which were held over the weekend.

When questioned, Pantlitz informed: “Basically concerning the Linden games: I heard of the Linden games by the way. Nobody had really called me to a meeting and to discuss it, I know of an early morning when Ms. Wanda Richmond called me and then said you will be responsible for coaching the Wismar team and Johnny Gravesande will be coaching the Mackenzie team. And you know when she told me the date, I said to her that that weekend I will not be here, I will be leaving for Barbados. So she said okay.”

However, the Lindener added: “But the magnitude of an event like the Linden games, for these things you must get the persons like the coaches involved, because we are the persons on the ground that have to do the work. To make the games a success you must have coaches involved. People can organise it, but as long as the athletes do not turn up there, you really do not have anything.”

As he zeroed in on the Amateur Athletics Association of Guyana’s (AAG) CARIFTA Games trials Pantlitz remarked: “On the AAG holding CARIFTA trials. As I said to persons I think in Guyana, I am one of the coaches that believe in the CARIFTA Games and why I say that I can go down the road to say that since 2013 I have been producing CARIFTA athletes 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017  I have been producing persons to CARIFTA Games. I will never jeopardise CARIFTA Games for many reasons.”

He continued, “The AAG will be hosting three trialsL one on the 11th, 18th and 24th and 25th February. I will miss the first trials which are, as I see it is no problem to me as a coach. Because at least, two out of three you can catch, I see that as a plus.”

Further Pantlitz added: “So we will be preparing ourselves in Barbados, we will not go there to lie down and just be relaxing ourselves. We are going there for a competition and we can even use that competition on Saturday for a trial run. So to me, as a coach, I don’t see any problems.”

Pantlitz recalled: “Basically my school had plans going to Barbados since we received the invitation in April last year and put things in place in June. The AAG have only dealt with their calendar of 2018 in December 2017 into January 2018 and it is then I really see that AAG have a meet on the 11th February for CARIFTA trials.

So we could not have turned back by then in any case, since we would have gone through everything including pursuing the purchasing of tickets and acquiring monies and, as I said before, I really do not see it as an issue or problem.”

From the Upper Demerara Club coached by Johnny Gravesande, two of their athletes in Chantobra Bright and Ron Green have already qualified.