Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 13, 2010 Sports
By Rawle Welch
“We have the talent and I think that the forging of the respective partnerships could see us feeling just as proud as the Trinidadians and the Jamaicans,” President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Colin Klass told Kaieteur Sport in a review of the entity’s performance last year.
Klass was referring to the lack of support from certain sections of the corporate community that failed to contribute to the development of the sport in 2009.
He used as an example the final of the Kashif & Shanghai Tournament which grossed an audience in excess of what was witnessed at any of the Cricket World Cup matches, adding that until the Government and the Corporate community realise that the sport of football enjoys more popularity that cricket, it will struggle to make strides at the regional and international levels.
He, however, trusted that the visit of the world’s greatest ever footballer King Pele will stimulate growth in the relationship among the countries which will then benefit the sport here.
“That was a moment we will never forget and I’m hoping it will have a lasting effect and the spin-offs will see a positive change in which the sport is viewed by those who can help develop it,” Klass pointed out.
He said that if that visit is not used to enhance the development of the game here it would not have served its purpose which was to generate an attraction for the sport locally.
“I’m hoping that the relationship which was fostered between the GFF, Government and the Brazilian Embassy here during Pele’s visit will be lasting and beneficial, especially to Guyana.
Performance in 2009
Positives-
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I think that it was one of the most productive years locally.
We were able to achieve what we were working for, for a number of years and to my mind they were significant achievements.
We were able to accomplish a National League for Men and Women and I think it is the beginning of great things for football in Guyana.
Even though, we were unable to organise such a League for the juniors, our aim this year is to have National Leagues for all categories and that will surely impact positively on our football development.
The performances of our referees continue to be a highlight in our holistic development and for this I must comment the Referees Council. That particular arm continues to perform beyond expectations.
They have once again done well, they were able to increase their base and I think all in all they continued to hold their own.
As a matter of fact, I feel we are matched only by the Gold Cup level and I want to commend the Council for what they are doing.
Negatives
Safety & Security-
–
This area of the sport is paramount to its success and we have not done too well in this particular part.
We had a few major incidents that highlighted that even more.
You can recall the stabbing incident and all that is related to safety and security.
The kind of access that fans have to the players must be addressed this year and very shortly we will be conducting a safety and security seminar under the auspices of CONCACAF which will deal with how we can curtail such occurrences.
Apart from that I think that we’ve been able to accomplish most of the things that we planned to achieve.
Coaching
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This area continues to be of great concern to us.
The highest qualification is the ‘B’ licence and we still suffer from insufficient coaches being accredited at that level.
Teams in our National League should not be coached by coaches below a ‘B’ licence level and our intention is to continue to train and train coaches to reach that level.
The personnel that you get really do not fit the kind of level and qualification desired, while what you find is that local coaches do not work together and I’m hoping that this situation changes so that we could get the best of them.
We’ve recently benefited from the support of several overseas-based Guyanese coaches who’ve all committed to returning at their own expense to help in this area.
We are extremely grateful for their support.
Associations-
The games in the various associations have improved, but I still do not feel that it has reached the desired level.
We still need to get the sport being played at the school level because as you know, you need to have a solid level of education to play the sport at the highest stage unless you are naturally talented.
Financing-
Without proper financing and a good foundation it is virtually impossible to challenge the other powers in the sport.
We desperately need the support of the corporate community to advance the game to the next level and as we are on this subject let me take the opportunity to thank Banks DIH who’ve stood with us over the years, while companies such as Church’s Chicken, Humphrey’s Bakery & Farm Products, Ansa McAl, Digicel, Sterling Products, DDL, Roraima Airways, Duke Lodge and Medi Care have also stuck with us and I want to publicly thank them.
Administration-
The administration in many associations leaves much to be desired and we found ourselves carrying much of the burden.
The fact of the matter is that we conducted many administrative courses in 2009, but very few administrators showed up and that was a very serious concern for us and we intend to put systems in place to rectify this problem.
I’m hoping that we really begin to get some improvements in this area.
Staffing
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There is the present need for a few more professional staff to improver our own performance and we will be addressing this issue this year.
We’ve done reasonably well so far, but I still feel that we could do more.
Football for Health & Medical Workshop-
Last year Dr. Joseph Haynes attended a FIFA Workshop on this issue and I’m hoping that very soon he could start implementing what he had learned to the football community among them being physical and first aid training.
We also intend to penalise clubs who do not participate in these workshops because it is all part of FIFA’s vision for improving the game.
In 2009, the participation at such seminars was unsatisfactory and we will reprimand all absentees from such occasions.
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