Middle and Long Distance Coach and Coach of the Rising Star Athletic Club, Leslie Black disclosed plans yesterday to go into retirement in the near future after his tenure of approximately two decades in athletics.
Reputedly the most successful coach in Guyana, Black has come to produce some of the most famous middle–long distance athletes at the Junior Carifta Games to date, namely triple gold medalist in the 5000 metres, Cleveland Forde, triple silver medalist in the 3000 metres and double bronze medalist in the 1500 metres, Alika Morgan, bronze medalist in the 1500 metres, Janella Jonas and currently the two-time gold medalist in the 1500 metres, Jevina Straker at the prestigious event.
However, in an interview with Stabroek Sport, his proudest moment to date in the sport is the receipt of a congratulatory letter from the Office of the President in 1996 signed by the late President Dr. Cheddi Jagan which Stabroek Sport has seen for the coaching of Reonna Cornette who won the Manhattan/Hispanic Half Marathon in New York in 1996, a feat no coach in Guyana has since achieved.
Meanwhile Black also lamented that his biggest regret to date in the sport was the exclusion of Morgan from any Youth and/or Junior World Championship team by the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) when she was in good running form.
“It hurts me deeply to know Alika was not given the opportunity to match strides with her counterparts at the highest level, she was overlooked by the AAG, although she was the Caribbean Champion,” Black stated.
Meanwhile Stabroek Sport questioned Black on his retirement after such a successful coaching career.
“Well you see I’m an unqualified coach and when you have had such success as I have without the necessary certificates it tends to cause some amount of disrespect and to be overlooked when national teams are going out because we are unqualified.
“So I have actually called it quits already but I’m just going through the flow with Morgan and Straker,” Black added.
When questioned about Morgan’s and Straker’s future since he has already made up his mind to walk from the sport, Black stated “Well we’re trying to get a scholarship for Straker, because if she stays here longer it could be detrimental to her career and Alika has lost some interest in the sport so I don’t know how much longer she will be in it but we’re also trying to put things together for her to get a scholarship as well.
“Once they are here though and need my help I will be around for them but at the moment I will not be coaching anyone else,” Black added.
Black also commented on what he thinks the AAG should do for athletics in Guyana.
“Right now athletics is at a crucial stage and truthfully more needs to be done by the AAG which I’m also a part of. Charity begins at home and the AAG should look for local scholarships for these athletes before looking for ones overseas.
“It’s at a crucial stage because most athletes between the ages of 18-21 once they don’t receive the necessary assistance they quit, that’s why most start and finish their career here at an early age,” he commented.
Black said further that while the AAG is not doing enough, athletics in Guyana could get better.
“We first of all need to develop love in the association and fix things from within the association so that the athletes and coaches could feel that same love, a rubberized track will not solve all our problems, we need to look at the Jamaicans and the Trinidadians and take pattern from them so we could also improve our own,” he stated.
In addition, Black also spoke out against the AAG’s selection process.
“I just think they need to look at how they select coaches for various athletes but I also think that they should find some sort of method to allow coaches to be with their athletes at these games because you would find that once a coach is there with his/her athlete they perform better,” he stated
However, Black chose to endorse the selection of both Melissa Byass and double gold medalist Straker with the best chance to medal for Guyana at the upcoming Carifta Games in Jamaica. He stated that the men will have their work cut out for them.
Meanwhile Black thanked the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) for their support throughout the years and attributed some of the success of Morgan and Forde to their support. He added that he has enjoyed the highs and lows of being a coach in Guyana.
