Dear Sir,

Coaching has been a nemesis of Guyana's football. There is a long history of competitions entered in which either the lack of or poor strategic and tactical decisions have contributed greatly to our limited successes. Granted the 1970s we spent as a nation discovering and reaffirming to ourselves our resourcefulness and self-sufficiency. We repeated the mantra burned into our national psyche -We must feed, clothe and houseourselves by 1976. As good as this was, it must be tempered with significant doses of reality. As reluctantly as we may come to the realization it must quickly be understood that the requisite coaching expertise to make Guyana football competitive outside the borders of Guyana does not reside within the borders of Guyana. GNASA advised an unreceptive GFF leadership hours after the last FIFA extraordinary congress of early July 1999 that the absolute priority at that juncture, in addition to quickly obtaining an office with the appropriate infrastructure, was to put in place a Technical Director. Remember the context of the time, Olympic qualifiers and U-17 World Cup qualifiers were about to commence. A willing, enthusiastic, capable, proven and most suited candidate was treated in a most hideous fashion for reasons that appear to be quiteobscure. The list of disgruntled who have passed through Guyana continues to grow. At some point, and that point may already have passed, we need to look in the mirror and may conclude that they are all not likely to be wrong. Maybe the devil resides within. Once we make that honest assessment then the exorcism should be swift and

decisive. We would underscore the importance of knowing (defining) your goals before hiring a TD, respect their abilities (if not, measure their progress and most of all DO NOT INTRUDE.

Again in this instance time marches on and the GFF is hard pressed to fill the position assuming that the leadership has accepted the imperative of this need. GNASA is prepared to give 10 good reasons why the right man isstill Mr. Carlos Godoy. We are also willing to listen to 10 counter acting reasons as to why not Carlos Godoy.

Simultaneously, there should be a genuine effort made todevelop local coaches who can eventually takeover the reins. This means goingto and learning from the best. These opportunities exist and have been brought to the GFF attention but for unexplained reasons there is no commitment to nor tenacity of pursuit of theseavenues. The inability to distinguish between excuses and legitimate reasons for inaction are no longer tolerable in 2001. Footballers and the Guyanesepeople deserve much better than that. Will the exorcist please stand up andperform your duty, the night of our football probably get any darker, this is as good a time as any. Acountry awaits!!

Guyanese NorthAmerican Soccer Association (GNASA)