– eyes move from MSC to Bayroc synthetic track

By Rawle Toney

AFTER being forced to cancel this year’s event, Edison Jefford, organiser of the Jefford Classic, is partially optimistic of staging Guyana’s largest Track and Field event in 2021 at the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) ground. 

Edison Jefford, whose brainchild it was to host the event 11 years ago, in an exclusive interview with Chronicle Sport yesterday, said with the airports being reopened for commercial travel, it marks a sign of some level of normalcy being restored with strict measures in place to protect citizens from the coronavirus which can be dreadful for some.

Forced to cancel this year’s event because of COVID-19, the Jefford Classic Track and Field championship organiser, is hoping that his 2021 edition can be held unhindered.

“I see the airports reopened and that move will indicate that there will be moves to reopen the country entirely soon, but that has not been announced formally. So we’re hoping that the country can open up next year, return to some normalcy, so that we could have the event hosted,” Jefford said.

However, Jefford was keen to highlight that his plans to see the Classic return is “partial optimism because COVID appears as though it will take us into 2021 and, given that situation, our plans have to be hedged around that. So, we are basically paying attention to the situation and hoping that the cases could be driven down and society can return to some normalcy.”

 MOVING TO BAYROC SYNTHETIC TRACK

Meanwhile, Jefford isn’t putting all his eggs in one basket, as the former stand-out sport journalist told Chronicle Sport already, along with his organising committee he’s also focussing on 2022.

With the construction of the synthetic track at the Bayroc Community Centre ground ongoing, Jefford is hoping that his Track and Field Classic will be given the opportunity to commemorate commissioning of the facility.

Jefford sees the opportunity presenting itself to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the Government of Guyana, using the Classic “as perhaps one of the premier events to open that facility in Linden”.

According to Jefford, the Classic enjoys the full support of Corporate Guyana and when moved to Bayroc, he anticipates that they will attract even more support.

ExxonMobil, Ansa McAl Trading Limited, Guyana Lottery Company’s Lets Bet Sports, DeSinco Trading, MVP Sports and FireSide Grill and Chill are among a string of corporate entities that have thrown their unwavering support to the event so far.

Jefford Classic holds to its credit being the first in over two decades, to allow one of the country’s most decorated Track and Field athletes, Aliann Pompey, to compete in Guyana in 2011.

The event also saw the return of Marian Burnett, a distinguished 800m and 1500m athlete, for the first time in ages at the MSC Ground.

Along with scores of regional and international acts, the Jefford Classic provided one of the biggest platforms for the country’s track and field athletes and clubs, being one of the most lucrative local meets.

The Jefford Classic was birthed after the passing of Elton Jefford, one of Guyana’s distinguished National sprinters, in 2008.

His son, Edison Jefford, felt it best to host an event to honour his father. He chose Linden as the home of the Championship, taking into account the MSC Ground was one of the many places, or probably the most notable, where the now deceased Jefford had his foundation and made a name for himself in track and field.