…Awaiting a vaccine

By Kizan Brumell
UNCERTAINTY continues to rattle around in the minds of sporting fraternities in Guyana with the nation recording its 139th COVID -19 related death as of November 14.

With new cases continuing to arise, it is not certain when most of these full contact sports will have a chance to fully resume in either the senior or junior aspect, with the pandemic guidelines in place.

On the other hand, a lot of disciplines have shelved their activities until 2021, on speculation that ‘a handle’ can be put on the pandemic, which seems to not be slowing down.

However, a few sporting disciplines such as Athletics, Bodybuilding, Lawn Tennis, Cricket, Cycling, and Golf made the bold step to gradually resume competitions, but not without challenges.

For some, the participation aspect took a huge blow owing to the fact that a lot of senior and junior athletes have been inactive since the lockdown commenced months ago and also because a lot of persons are still fearful of the novelty virus.

Most of these sports see players wearing a mask coupled with on-spot hand sanitation and a non-contact temperature assessment to help mitigate the spread of the virus. All of this follows approval and guidelines from the National COVID-19 task force.

However, for world governing bodies, there are guidelines insinuated to assist unions and competitions in creating a policy for return to sporting activities within their respective jurisdictions. The recurring factor with most of these governing bodies is the need for a vaccine to counter COVID-19. An attainment as such would drastically bring sport back to some sort of familiar semblance.

Meanwhile, professional sports have successfully implemented ‘the bubble’, but that may not be the case where resources may not be available to achieve such a feat in multiple disciplines in Guyana.

BOXING
Locally, Boxing recently received the Green light to resume basic training which entails that there will be no sparring. President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), Steve Ninvalle, stated that he was quite pleased to get the approval from the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and the task force.

Ninvalle disclosed that the last time a GBA tournament was held was in February of this year. It will be very intriguing to see the association’s next step.

RUGBY
Rugby has not been short of its challenges. The National Park, where the Rugby Playfields are located, was closed due to the pandemic. According to the guidelines on the reopening phase of the National Park, it nullifies any form of the rugby union being able to train or host competitions.

A rule states: “No contact sport, cycling or special events will be allowed during this phase. The athletic/sport fields, tarmac and Play Land will remain closed.”

Another read: “No gathering of more than 5 persons at any time in any area of the Park would be permitted.” These guidelines were enforced with the help of the Park’s Security Team.

In May, World Rugby published guidelines for the safe return to rugby activities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, but resources may not be readily available to allow an official match. World Rugby, like many other sports, has instructed that players be put in ‘the bubble’ and matches will have to happen behind closed doors, until a vaccine is developed.

Football
Football was severely affected locally. No competition or training has resumed even though the governing body– the Guyana Football Federation (GFF)– has also received guidelines and made contact with numerous member associations on a way forward.

However, skepticism has kept the ball off the field and while no senior or grass-root level football is being played or practised, it seems the Federation has quite an uphill task to meet guidelines to get the ball rolling again.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “Multiple COVID-19 vaccines are under development. As of November 4, 2020, four vaccines have begun large-scale (Phase 3) clinical trials in the United States.

As things currently stand, there will be no normalcy in the sporting arenas until a working vaccine is made to counter this pandemic.