Dear Editor,
Since penning my missive on an important topic with regards to Sports and which was unfortunately carried in one of the four dailies, it seems that I have become public enemy #1 and have raised the wrath of a few. I have been deemed to be ungrateful and called a mercenary. My employers have been called and threatened that they will feel the weight of the pen by a former sports writer now turned sports administrator because it is alleged that they (my employer) encouraged me to write the letter. Within three days of the letter being published a meeting was called to discuss the Caribbean Games; after all, the letter served its purpose.
I would like to make it categorically clear that I wrote that letter as a concerned Guyanese, sports administrator and sports enthusiast. I will continue to write the truth and ask pertinent questions, and if my writing the truth will cause me to lose some of my friends and gain the support of many underprivileged sports bodies I will continue to do so.
Let me take you down memory lane. Remember the Guyana Games (Inter Region), Guystac Games, the Guymine Games, the Joint Service Games, the Agri Sector Games, the Public Service Games. Can you remember every September when we had the traditional school sports at Eve Leary, Camp Ayanganna ground and GCC ground? Remember when the venues used to be packed to capacity to witness the likes of Basil Bradshaw, Virgil Lewis, Gordon Lewis and Clarence Bancroft square off in the 100 metres dash? Remember Schultz, Collison, Thomas Bowman and Neville Patrick, in the 100 metres; remember Carrington vs Thomas? Remember Steve Lyte, Gladston Hopkinson, George Sullivan, Andrew Forsythe all battling in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres? Remember when Anthony October,Wayne Mathurin and Oliver Alves of Guystac threw down the gauntlet to Oslyn Barr, Wendell Lashley and company of Guymine in the 400 and 800 metres? Remember when Wendell McPherson of Guystac and Noel Perry of Guymine squared off in the shotput and Lionel Schultz won the discus for many years? Can you remember Vannie Moses winning the female 100 metres and Lorrie Ann Adams, Mazel Gordon, Deborah Innocent and Andrea Isaacs battling in the 400 and 800 metre races? Remember Jennifer Inniss, June Griffith, Wanda Lespure winning their events easily? Remember GAC, GRB, GEC, GTC, GNTC, GNEC & GSL battling at the GCC ground at the Guystac Games; remember the Guystac ground having three days of heats to determine who will run at the finals? Remember ‘Bhajee’ the tailor sewing the uniforms for the teams so that they can participate in the march-past and winning the best-dressed team prize and on the morning of the games he has not yet finished sewing the track suits and the athletes receiving them at the ground? Remember at the Eve Leary ground when Joint Service challenged Guystac/Guymine in athletics and we had a wonderful time?
Remember when Col Godwyn McPherson was in charge of the Guyana Games when there were representatives from Region 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, and we saw participants take part in football, cycling, swimming, hockey, archery, boxing, basketball, volleyball and netball, just to name a few sports, and the teams stayed at St Joseph and North Georgetown schools? Can those days return? Remember when Linden and Berbice hosted these games?
Remember at the GFC ground the Guystac football final between Coop Bank and GRB or GEC and GRB? Then we had Guystac vs Guymine in some thrilling football games: Maurice Enmore, Mikey Lane, Keith Smart, Clive Nedd and Herbert Pellew of Guystac tackling Rupert and Bing Carter, ‘Bunny’ Anthony, Joey Alberts, Oscar ‘Water Dog’ Thompson and ‘Zipper’ Johnson of Guymine.
It is my strong opinion that the demise of these games and the lack of sports in schools and the lack of proper facilities have contributed to our decline in our performance both locally and internationally.
What has happened to the grounds like that of Guyana Stores (a bank is being built there) St Stanislaus (dug up for years), North Ruimveldt Multilateral (a forest is there), Tutorial (a school is built there), D’Urban Park (a forest in the city), Queen’s College (overgrown with thick bush). I can identify many other grounds which have been neglected over the years by the authorities. Am I incorrect? It is because persons do not take sport as a priority in the lives of young people that the morals of society have declined so tremendously to the point where we are facing anarchy.
Do you think if we had these facilities for the young people to perform and display their talents the crime situation would have been so high? I don’t think so.
Mr Editor, the time is now here when the Ministry of Education in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport revamp the sports policy in schools. Gone are the days when we had PT teachers. Do we expect our sports men and women to not participate in sport at a young age and still expect them to bring back gold medals? It is physically impossible; that is a no, no.
In closing, I would say that we have to maintain what is left of our failing facilities, create more facilities of an international standard, invite more international teams to visit our country so that our teams can have the required playing time and experience, and most importantly we must have compulsory organized sports in the school system.
Yours faithfully,
Lawrence Griffith
