Who to blame for the decline of sports in Guyana 

Jun 04, 2023 Sports

Is Guyana getting a fair deal from those in charge…

By Samuel Whyte

Kaieteur Sports – As one ponders about the state of sports in Guyana, many questions are being asked as to what passes as sports or sport administration these days.  Has sports improved or declined in Guyana. Is Guyana getting a fair deal from those in charge?

The overwhelming answer is the administration of sport in Guyana leaves much to be desired. The country is not participating in sports or winning like before. Why are we not performing like before or better? Who’s to blame?

Before I continue, I would like to implore my fellow journalist to begin to look at the functioning of many of these sporting bodies. We should not be just filing results and events, but call activities as it is. With Guyana getting into the big league we have to up our game.

My decades of involvement in sports along with other views would help to conclude that what passes as sports in Guyana now leaves more questions than answers.  The issues are many.  Sport is a far cry from where it use to or should be.

For now I would not single out any sport, but look at things with a broad brush and challenge anyone to say different.

In days gone by Guyana used to compete at the highest pedestal in almost every sporting discipline. Not just participate, but compete with fair success. An important point to note is that most of our stars performers used to be home grow or home based.

Sports is now heavily concentrated in Georgetown. While some organizations are trying others are badly lacking in every aspect of their game. Others need to expand to other parts of Guyana rather than being conducted like a club in Georgetown.

Not so long ago, sports used to be played in the entire country with fierce rivalry between Georgetown, Linden and Berbice.

Money cannot be a problem, since Guyana is now awash with finances. We have money more than many countries. There is money to do almost anything.  We can outbid, we can bring the best coaches too.

Some pertinent questions being asked at the moment are – Do we elect Sports administrators or dictators. Are our sports administrators and directors just lazy with many being in conflict of interest positions? It cannot be a lack of talent, which is abound throughout Guyana.

We had a lot going on without money, we had Guyana Games and many more without money. Now there is money. So what is it causing the decline?

With Guyana awash with money the administrators should put the right policies and people in place that will give Guyana a chance to do much better than what is happening at the moment.