Former 400 metres Schools National Champion, Philip Drayton is believed to have misled a host of Guyanese athletes via Facebook into thinking that the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) will be sending a contingent to the 2011 Southern Games to be staged this weekend at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre, Trinidad.
Drayton, who now resides in Trinidad, via a Facebook group chat named ‘Guyana Track Family’ expressed his disappointment with the AAG’s administration and the means by which they select athletes for international meets while condemning the AAG for his non-inclusion on the team.
While Drayton’s comments on Facebook caused some unrest among national athletes, Stabroek Sport in a subsequent telephone interview with Junior Vice-President of the AAG, Brandford Burke, understands that Drayton, a former member of the Royal Youth Movement Athletics and Sports Club (RYM) was not registered for the year with either the club or the AAG, therefore eliminating his chances of being selected for any national team although in this case there is none.
“I had a talk with Philip over the phone and he outlined some of his concerns and while I’ll keep in contact with him, I urged him to get registered with the AAG,” Burke stated.
While athletes from Guyana will be participating at the games, they will not be going under the national banner but as representatives of their individual clubs, according to AAG President Colin Boyce. “The Southern Games is an invitational meet, with invitations going to athletes and they (the clubs) will have to indicate to us who are going,” Boyce stated yesterday via telephone.
Meanwhile Stabroek Sport in talking with seasoned campaigner and 1500 and 5000 metres athlete, Dennis Horatio yesterday learnt that along with Horatio, 100 and 200 metres sprinter, Winston George, 1500 and 5000 metres national record holder, Cleveland Forde and 800 and 1500 metres athlete, Cleveland Thomas are expected to receive four tickets from the organizers of the games. “Well the organizers over there know us very well from competing there a lot, somebody over there knows George as well, so they were supposed to send our tickets to the AGG today (yesterday) for us to compete there,” Horatio stated.
According to Horatio they are scheduled to leave for Trinidad tomorrow to compete at the Southern Games this weekend on an individual basis and not as a team.
