AUBREY Hutson will serve a third term (four years) as President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) after he was re-elected on Sunday at the Annual General Meeting and Election of Office Bearers, held at the National Racquet Centre.

After four rounds of voting and tied five apiece, Sheryl Hermonstine, who will serve as First Vice-President, conceded.

Other elected Executives were Rtd. Colonel Paul Arthur (Second Vice-President), Dwayne Carter (Treasurer), and Elton Bollers (Assistant Treasurer).

The Committee Members are Keith Campbell, Linden Phillips, Telson Williams, Nial Stanton, and Major Tyron Smith.

The Secretary and Assistant Secretary are appointed by the Executive, and it is expected that at their first statutory meeting that would be done. The Returning Officer was President of the Guyana Olympic Association, K.A. Juman-Yassin.

Speaking to the media, Hutson expressed gratitude for the support of the clubs and asserted that he will be inclusive to all clubs despite the initial close nature of the elections.

“I intend to be the president of all clubs, all athletes in this country. While there is some bit of concern in the way the elections were played out, I am still prepared to work with these people who did not necessarily support me and hope that they would come to their recognition that moving the sport forward [in] Guyana is going to be a collective effort and you can’t sit on the side lines, wait for elections, then to show your face.” Hutson expressed.

According to the Hutson, it is imperative that the entire executive ‘pull their weight’ and show more dedication.
“More dedication from the executive and not lip service”, he expressed.

“People don’t want to learn, people don’t want to get involved, because when it comes to hard work, what we find is that we have a lot of talkers and less doers. What we need is more people coming out, learning the stuff, understanding track and field and knowing the athletes, so whenever we sit to do selection, they would know what they are talking about.”

Hutson further indicated there is a need for more collaboration since the “athletes are running ahead of administrators” and there are issues they need to address in terms of athletes’ contracts, substance, and programmes of getting athletes to the elite levels in Europe.

The president said that unless they address those issues, they will continue to dominate at junior levels, but not see the smooth transition to the elite level.