On the 29th January, the National Sports Awards ceremony was held at the National Cul-tural Centre. The event, which was hosted by the National Sports Council (NSC), acknowledged the most outstanding performances by our Nation’s athletes during the period of 2021 and 2022.
Congratulations to the NSC for reigniting this tradition which was last held three years ago and appeared in danger of slipping into oblivion. Our top sportsmen and sportswomen, who proudly wear the national colours at international competitions, are most deserving of our recognition for the countless hours of training endured and sacrifices made. Just as important, these occasions can also serve as a motivational tool for the next generation of athletes.
The big winners at this grand occasion (the sports section of this publication provided comprehensive coverage), the Sportsman and Sports-woman of the Year, were the boxer, Desmond Amsterdam, and squash player, Nicolette Fernandes, respectively. Last year, Amsterdam won bronze medals at the American Boxing Confederation Championships in March, in Ecuador, and the South American Games in October, Paraguay, and reached the quarterfinals at the Commonwealth Games in July/August, in Birmingham, England. Amsterdam’s performances in the ring made him the highest ranked Guyanese boxer, 23rd, by the International Boxing Association.
Squash queen Nicolette Fernandes, following a banner year in 2022, notched her sixth Sports-woman of the Year title, fifteen years after her last crown. Last April, she captured the gold medal at the Pan Am Squash Championships in Guate-mala, and in August, in Poland, she became the first Guyanese to win a World Masters title. The former professional squash player finished off the year with a silver medal at the South American Games in Paraguay. Fernandes’ achievements in the twilight of her career exemplifies to our next generation of athletes of what can be achieved if one is dedicated to the task at hand, the age factor not withstanding.
Award ceremonies, because of their subjective nature, will always stoke controversies. Inherent human biases play a significant role when the appointed panel meets to choose the winners. This year was no exception (will there ever be one?), and two selections were viewed as surprises in some quarters.
Firstly, there was the selection of Idi Lewis, the National Table Tennis coach for the Male Coach of the Year award. Not to take anything away from Coach Lewis, but his achievements pale in comparison with those of past winner, squash coach Carl Ince. In addition to being the guiding force behind Fernandes’ achievements, Ince oversaw Guyana’s domination of the Caribbean Squash Championships at both the junior and senior levels. In July, at home, Guyana regained the Junior Title, capturing both the Boys and Girls crowns, its thirteenth under Ince’s watch, following a streak of twelve consecutive titles which came to an end in 2017. The junior team, which won the Team of the Year Award, so impressed with its performances at the World Juniors in August in France, that the boys were invited by international squash powers Egypt, India, Holland and Colombia to train with their respective national teams, with all expenses paid upon arrival. With the senior men’s and women’s
teams, which comprised entirely of former members of Ince’s junior squads also taking the Carib-bean titles, it was a clean sweep for Coach Ince, an English qualified Elite Level Four Coach. No other coach, male or female, came remotely close to matching Ince’s achievements. Was Coach Ince overlooked because he was a previous four-time winner? If that is the case, then we are certainly not doing ourselves any justice by lowering our standards of performance.
The other surprise selection was that of this publication’s sports journalist, Duncan Saul, as Sports writer of the Year in the print media category. Saul, a previous nominee who covers basketball, football hockey, squash and volleyball, was a first-time winner. In the past two years, he has penned many a piece drawing attention to the foibles of several local sporting organisations. The faux paus of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), of which there have been several in the past two years, included the delayed payments to the national team who might still be awaiting their cheques were it not for Saul’s reporting.
Director of Sport, Steve Ninvalle, who is also the CEO of the NSC, has acknowledged that the inadequacies in the selection process needed to be addressed and modified. Speaking on 4th February, Ninvalle stated that a high-calibre panel will meet shortly, “ to analyze the entirety of the selection criteria and will make recommendations if shortcomings are identified, for possible amendments. The objective is to ensure that the selection process is not only transparent but can stand up to the highest level of scrutiny and examination on the local and international scene.”
One category which needs the panel’s urgent attention is the sportswriter of the year awards. For this year’s awards, members of the media on the panel, were placed in the difficult position of voting on the work of their colleagues. This is a task for an independent jury of three to five members, appointed annually within the first week of the year, to keep track of the output of the various writers. Suitable candidates for this sensitive exercise would include English teachers, and retired sportsmen and sportswomen.
Kudos to the National Sports Director for recognising that there are shortcomings in the selection process and for taking steps immediately to begin the modifications. One wishes that other areas of governance could function along similar lines.
