Cheryl Thompson has been president of the Guyana Cycling Federation since 2011.
Thompson’s four-year term as GCF president began in March of 2011 and will end in 2015. She noted in the following exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport that there is the possibility of her running again for office once she is nominated.
In the interview with Stabroek Sport Thompson, one of the few female presidents of a national association touched on an array of topics ranging from future plans of the GCF, its funding to her tenure in office.
Following is the interview.
EC: What future plans are in store for cycling for the rest of the season?
CT: We are still finalizing our plan for the next four years, we should be meeting shortly to complete that and when that is released I know that will assist the cyclists immensely that will probably be released next week.
EC: What different approaches have the GCF taken to make this season better than last year’s?
CT: We are trying to have a training programme for the cyclists; we are also trying to have more meets with more mileage.
Just like the three-stage event, we are looking at having a four-stage as well; we would also like to do more to be on par with events the governing body.
EC: How does National Cycling Coach, Hassan Mohamed’s programmes complement the GCF’s initiatives?
CT: His programmes keep them fit and active but I think we need to look at the events a little more seriously because the distance of some of the events needs to improve because the seniors need to do more mileage. We would like to see longer and more frequent road races.
EC: What are your thoughts on the Coco’s riders going to train in Colombia for a 30-day stint? Was it approved by the GCF?
CT: Yes it was approved by the GCF, they have applied for affiliation to the GCF and the Coco’s club is on probation waiting on submissions of some final documents.
That type of training will benefit them tremendously because if they are looking forward to go to the Olympics, that is the perfect stepping stone to achieving greater heights, it will also help them when they return to Guyana for the three-stage coming up in May.
I just hope on their return they will be able to impart their knowledge to the other local cyclists.
EC: Are plans afoot to put local cyclists on the world stage to represent Guyana?
CT:The cycling federation does not really have a programme in place at the moment for the assistance of cyclists to train abroad and develop themselves but what I know for sure is we have Geron Williams who is in America and he has joined the Youth Foundation and he is riding with that team and is doing really well.
EC: Is the GCF funded by the governing body?
CT: Our funding is independent, the only way we may receive funding from the UCI is if we attend certain international events but we do have initiatives to raise funds to send the young riders to the Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships in Aruba in September and the seniors to the Senior Championships in Curacao in October.
EC: How long have you been in office and what has the GCF achieved under your tenure?
CT: I was in the cycling fraternity before but I took office in 2011 at the end of March and we can safely say the level of riding over the past two years especially for the road races and the stage races have risen.
EC: What are some of the things you want to see cycling achieve before you demit office?
CT: I am hoping for a better financial strategy where the GCF will be in a position to assist the national teams where they won’t have to go out and be self sponsored because we would like to fund the riders once they are selected to represent Guyana on a tour. Funding is high on the agenda and we are hoping to put things in place and we are hoping that in the second half of the year to go on a series of fund raising events.
