By Neto Baptiste
Teddy Daley, a former executive member of the Antigua and Barbuda Athletic Association (ABAA) and a potential candidate for the post of president during next year’s electoral congress constitutionally due in March, has pushed back against suggestions that a number of javelins recently handed over to coach Marlon Mack should have, instead, been placed in the care of the sport’s governing body.
“The javelins are housed at YASCO and every or anybody who trains in that discipline, the javelins are there for them to use. I have not touched one of the javelins since the day I handed them over. We have one person who coaches javelin. I handed them over to that person, just as the president before would have handed over the one javelin that we had and we used during nationals. So based on that, I think this is something that someone was trying to make more of it than it really is,” he said.
The former national athlete turned coach, handed over five of eight new javelins to coach Mack in early December, promising to hand over another three after they arrived on island. One member of the athletics association executive, Kesswin Anthony, when asked if the body was invited to the handing over, said they had not been made aware of the ceremony.
Daley further defended his position by pointing out that the javelins ae being housed in the association’s building at YASCO but the decision to hand them over to coach Mack stems from the fact that he works directly with all the athletes in that discipline.
“People pull sleds up at YASCO and I paid to build those sleds but I never asked anybody why are they using the sleds. I never handed them over to any association. A lot of the weights at YASCO, my wife [Heather Samuel Daley], myself and Marlon Mack, we’re the ones who purchased all of those things. Some of the machines, I bought the material and Marlon Mack made the machines and everybody uses them, so to come with this is just, to me, trying to pull a red-herring; it’s a non issue,” he said.
The eight javelins have a total value of EC$6,700.
