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GUYANA CHRONICLE Thursday January 16, 2014
Kumar challenges GBA to produce more medals this year … Referees/Judges undergo refresher course By Calvin Roberts DIRECTOR of Sport within the National Sports Commission (NSC) Neil Kumar yesterday morning challenged the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) to produce more medallists this year, following up on the success story they had yesterday. He was at the time, opening the GBA’s Referees/Judges Refresher course at the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) High Street, Kingston-located boardroom, in the presence of GBA president Steve Ninvalle, Technical Director Terrence Poole and James Beckles of Trinidad and Tobago who is an International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) Referee/
Judge and a trained facilitator. “I want to congratulate the GBA in the first place for organising this Referee/Judges Course, which I view as very important, even as I say special thanks to Mr Beckles for being here so early in the year, especially after the just concluded festive season,” said Kumar. He called on the media to follow the GBA closely, saying it is the lone Sports Association to produce to the NSC a detailed plan under the ‘Road to Rio de Janiero’ proposal and they need to be complimented. “We cannot work without having a plan. We have to have a short-, medium- and long-term plan and I think that boxing is one of the disciplines which have a long-term plan, both at the professional and amateur levels, when you look at how they work closely together to coordinate the monthly Friday Night Fights. “Now we have the GBA running off a refresher course for their referees/judges and this is great, for while Mr Poole is doing an extremely good job here, getting better and better, I would like to see our boxers medalling more at the international level this year,” said Kumar. He added, “Particularly with the aim of qualifying for Brazil in 2016 and I wish to congratulate our referees/judg-
es and I honestly feel that they have been a major improvement in this department and I wish to congratulate them, while reminding them to continue to be fair. “Definitely I would like to see them improve more and more, since the boxers are in their hands and you must be the one to make the better judgment, while I thank the GBA for being so early with this programme, even as I extend special thanks to Mr. Beckles for being here with us once again, even as I look forward to working with the GBA and other Associations for further development in 2014.”
In his opening remarks, Ninvalle applauded Kumar and the GOA, whom he described as being instrumental in facilitating Beckles’ trip to Guyana for the course which runs for a period of five days, with the first three being theoretical and the latter two practical at the Andrew ‘Sixhead’ Lewis gym.
“It is important that the participants become sponges and take in all the information Mr Beckles has to offer. We know that AIBA is changing its rules regularly and Mr Beckles is part and parcel of the GBA, which is trying to keep you up to date with what is going on in the amateur boxing arena. “His visit here could not have been possible without the input of our Director of Sport Neil Kumar, who has always been willing to put his shoul-
ders to the wheel as it relates to amateur boxing in Guyana and its development and I wish to say thanks to him, the NSC and special thanks to the GOA,” said Ninvalle. He thanked Beckles for making the time to come and share with the local referees/ judges the new developments as they unfold from AIBA and urged the participants to tap into his knowledge over the next five days without fear and favour.
Meanwhile, Beckles thanked the GBA for having him to conduct the course, saying that it is not limited to Guyana alone, since he will be journeying over to Barbados when his tenure here is over, to conduct a similar course. On the same note, he said the GBA and most countries within the Caribbean lack constant training as is being done in Trinidad and Tobago, while he hinted at the Trinidad and Tobago Boxing Association inviting presidents from boxing associations across the Carib-
bean, to have a first hand look at their national championships which is a five-day affair. “What we intend doing is invite some of the presidents to come to T&T to view our championships, interact with our local body and see how things work there, so that you can design your own structure as it relates to the work of the referees/judges” said Beckles. According to Ninvalle, a total of 20 participants will be attending the seminar, at the end of which a Certificate of Participation would be issued to each participant.
Ricks and Sari programme to start off this year’s season WITH BERBICE seeing their cycling season pedal off last Sunday with the hosting of the Wilbur Benjamin 40-mile road race, cyclists and cycling enthusiasts in Georgetown can get ready for action in this year’s season, which pedals off next Saturday around the inner circuit of the National Park. As has been the custom over the years, the Ricks and Sari Agro Industries Limited will be the main sponsor of the 11-race cycle programme for the 21st year of the event, which is being organised by national cycling coach Hassan Mohamed and pedals off at 09:00hrs, marking
another busy year for cyclists. The card includes 12 to 14
U-50 yrs (5 laps), BMX Boys 9 to 12 yrs (3 laps), Veterans O-50
RAYNAUTH JEFFREY yrs Open (3 laps), BMX Boys 12 to 14 yrs (3 laps), Veterans
SKIPPER LEADS
RAUL LEAL yrs (5 laps), BMX Boys 6 to 9 yrs (2 laps), Upright Cyclists (5 laps), BMX Girls 6 to 12 yrs (1 lap), BMX Boys Open (3 laps), Juveniles and Schoolboys & Invitational feature events. Team Coco’s Raynauth Jef-
frey who had clocked 1h.16m:56secs to take the feature 35-lap race in last year’s edition of this said meet, will be looking to repeat that performance, with the hope of starting the year on a positive note. However, he will have to contend with other riders such as Robin Persaud, Junior Niles, Hamza Eastman, Paul DeNobrega, Geron Williams, Shaquille Agard and Alanzo Greaves just to name a few, while Raul Leal won the Juveniles 10-lap event on the said programme. Leal resumed competitive cycling last Sunday, placing second to Orville Hinds in last Sunday’s event, after recovering fully from the career-threatening injuries he sustained in May last, following a road accident in which he suffered a broken right forearm and right leg while training.
CRICKET QUIZ CORNER
GUYANA’S WICB/NAGICO Super50 team and standby players were yesterday taken to Base Camp Timehri by their two physical fitness trainers, Patrick King and Carl Stephenson, of the Guyana Defence Force, where they underwent several fitness exercises. In this Julian Moore photograph, recently appointed captain of the team, Christopher Barnwell, leads from the front as the players undergo the crunches exercise yesterday morning in rainy and sandy conditions.
Compliments of THE TROPHY STALL-Bourda Market &The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) & CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL CO. LTD-83 Garnette Street, Campbellville (Tel: 225-6158; 223-6055) Answers to Thursday’s quiz: Rod Marsh; Alan Knott; Wasim Bari; Syed Kirmani; Deryck Murray South Africa vs Sri Lanka Today’s Quiz: Where and when did Len Baichan play his first Test match? How many ODI wickets Joel Garner took against England? Answers in tomorrow’s issue