Parasnath calls for higher pay for sports journalists, athletes
Sports analyst and coach, Brij Parasnath says that the media is a key component in the development of sports and as such journalists should be paid more and there should be funding for athletes.
Parasnath, himself a journalist, was giving the feature address at the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) in the presence of Aubrey Hutson, President of the AAG and President of the South American Consudatle (confederation of athletics), Roberto Gesta De Melo at the Umana Yana, Kingston on Saturday evening.
Parasnath, who began coaching back in 1969, said that sports reporters are the lowest paid of the media in the Caribbean but are some of the hardest workers in the region.
“The media guys are the lowest paid workers in the Caribbean we don’t make the money but we do the job from 10 o’clock in the morning to two in the morning we going home so we need some better pay as well”, Parasnath said during his near two-hour address.
Even with their hectic schedules, the sport enthusiast related that it would be impossible for journalists to cover all the events but they try their best to get as much coverage and highlight the athletes. Thus, he urged the sports bodies to help in what way they can to disseminate information as the top organisations do.
“In this current time you got to email it or whatsapp it quickly, they can’t go to all the grounds, you got to help them. The big organisations around the world do that so you get to highlight the athletes”, he said.
The historical reference to the Association’s first coming of age began with it being named the Amateur Athletics Association. Now the body is no longer amateur. Therefore, Parasnath questioned why call it professional when the athletes are not being paid?
“The association started out as amateur athletics but the amateur has been dropped meaning it is professional now but the athletes are not paid to run”, the former teacher of the AAG President said.
He drew the parallel between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago where he urged the Association to “pay them because they are dedicating their lives to athletics.” He also compared the sport to cricket where he commented “if the cricketers can get USD 2000 to play a T20 match in three hours, then you could give them even 200 or 100 USD and you will see how much champions we produce.” He explained that “Now Trinidad has an elite system, the elite performance programme, which Sporting stalwart Brij Parasnath giving his address at the Umana Yana gives them quarter of a million dollars a year so by the time of the Olympics they have one million dollars towards preparation but you have to be in the top 40 in the world so you have to work to get that elite funding and have incentives like $246 million in this current budget for those who win international medals.”
Parasnath was one of the first five Regional Sports Organisers for the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.
(Reuters) - Many a visiting team have succumbed to the trial by spin in Sri Lanka and Joe Root’s England will have to step up their game against the turning ball to escape that fate in the test series beginning at Galle tomorrow.
Sri Lanka have never shied away from milking their home advantage and the team, who have lost only one of their past six test series at home, are unlikely to do anything different against an unsettled England.
The three-test series promises a familiar sight, with Sri Lanka’s wily spinners to bowl tirelessly and often in tandem, preying on the technique and temperament of the touring batsmen on tracks where the fast bowlers will play cameos.
And leading Sri Lanka’s charge, for one last time, will be a bulky 40-year-old with a golden arm and creaky knees as Rangana Herath ends his illustrious career at the same Galle where he made his test debut 19 years ago.
Herath has carried Sri Lanka’s spin burden on his shoulders since Muttiah Muralitharan’s exit but the left-arm spinner has decided he cannot carry on.
He will retire after his 93rd test, having already established himself as the most successful left-arm spinner in test history with 430 scalps.
Sri Lankan cricket of late has been a microcosm of the politically riven country, and Dinesh Chandimal’s team will have to find ways to focus on the game amid turmoil off-field.
Former captain Sanath Jayasuriya and bowling coach Nuwan Zoysa are battling anti-corruption charges, while Sri Lanka Cricket chief financial officer Wimal Nandika Dissanayake has been remanded in custody by police for suspected financial misappropriation.
In comparison, England’s problem is to identify the best combination, especially the selections of their number three and wicketkeeper.
With Keaton Jennings set to open with the uncapped Rory Burns, Joe Denly was primed for the number three slot, but the 32-year-old’s struggle in the warm-up matches has jeopardised his test debut.
With wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow recovering from an ankle injury, Jos Buttler is set to play but it could be purely as a batsman, with Surrey wicketkeeper Ben Foakes donning the keeper’s gloves.
“It’s probably the likely scenario (that Buttler plays),” Root told the BBC last week.
“But the reason we called Ben up is he’s a high-quality wicketkeeper and gives us another way to balance the side up. It’s a nice position to be in.”
Kandy hosts the second test from Nov. 14 and the final match is in Colombo from Nov 23.