Left: Weller ... I just don't see anything happening - the sport is not going anywhere. All I see is Vaughn making statements in the media. Right: Phang ... What he (Weller) is suggesting is that we are not achieving anything so we should just drop everything and leave and that's ludicrous.
JAMAICA'S MOST famous cyclist, David Weller, has called for the resignation of Jamaica Cycling Federation (JCF) president Vaughn Pang due to a "lack of commitment to the greater good" of the sport.
In a hard-hitting letter written to Phang, the 1980 Moscow Olympic bronze medallist claims the JCF lacks "initiative and leadership" and has become "a parasite on the efforts of local diehard cycling fans".
Weller also claimed in the terse missive that "youth development, coaching programmes and community education about cycling is replaced by self-aggrandising in the media without demonstrating tangible results".
No plans to quit
However, despite the attack from the only Jamaican to win an Olympic medal outside of track and field, Phang says he has no plans to get out of the presidential saddle, just yet.
"When I first saw the letter from David, I thought he was going to say 'good stuff' for getting to the Olympics (with Ricardo Lynch) as he had said we wouldn't make it," said Phang, who has been JCF president for the past three years.
"But, obviously, it did not. I then took the letter to the board because it was reflection on everyone - not just myself, and it didn't go down well.
"We are doing things differently to what he would have done. I can respect his position but if David isn't satisfied with what is happening he could do two things: he could try to get involved to see what he could do to make a difference or he could put himself forward and say 'Vaughn, I don't think you can take this as far as it needs to go and I am going to come in'.
"What he is suggesting is that we are not achieving anything so we should just drop everything and leave and that's ludicrous," the 33-year-old said. "The thing is he's not doing anything to help - and that letter sure doesn't help either."
Influential people
Weller, in an interview with The Gleaner following the submission of the letter, said he had met some of Jamaica's most influential business people and said they would be interested in getting involved in the sport if they could see it moving forward.
"I need to know what the vision is," Weller, who is working with a United States aviation firm in Miami, said on a recent trip back to the island.
"It's been five years and I don't see anything happening. I had a conversation with some real movers and shakers in Jamaica who would be interested in investing in cycling but they want to see the plan; how the federation is planning to move forward.
"What Vaughn has failed to do is engage these people ... he is aware of them but I just don't think he knows how. The federation has to be more proactive.
"We have been sensitised in this country to think that everything must go through the government, but there are corporations out there that are willing to put a good chunk of money on the programme, but they want to see a strategic programme, a development programme; they want to see that cycling is in schools."
Vaughn said he recognises there is an influential set of "social cyclists" in the island but that the sport has always been "fragmented" between various clubs and groups.
As for youth development, Phang said the association was moving in the right direction.
"This year, we have been doing a lot of work in western Jamaica because those areas have developed clubs that are working with kids. We send a coach over there to work with the coaches and kids and send gear for the kids. We have also received 10 frames and 10 wheel sets which will go towards the youth programme - mainly out west.
BMX programme
"We are also looking at getting up a BMX programme because the bikes are much cheaper and the venues, too. You can race anywhere there is dirt rather than at a track facility or on sealed-off roads," he said.
"Also, BMX can also be introduced at a much earlier age than road and track cycling. What we are hoping to do is bring kids into cycling through BMX.
"I know David says we should be pushing everything into youth development but we had no role model to link cycling with success - apart from David and he doesn't live here, he wasn't accessible. But Ricardo's success has been recognised by the Government. And now we have land at G.C. Foster College to build a facility and we have been earmarked land at Independence Park. We have also got assistance for coaching and commissaries' courses.
"We don't want to forget the youth but you must have a presence (like Lynch) and that's one of the main differences in our philosophies.
"The most distressing thing about all of this is that you volunteer your own time to build something up and someone wants you to stop without offering an alternative to keep it moving forward," said Phang, who said he would "probably" run for re-election in the middle of next year.
'Can't take anymore'
Meanwhile, Weller, 51, remains firm in his stance.
"I just don't see anything happening - the sport is not going anywhere. All I see is Vaughn making statements in the media," he said. "Over the years, I kept this out of the forefront and was trying to encourage him (Phang) to go back to the drawing board.
"I wasn't putting his feet to the fire, I was trying to be constructive. I wasn't looking for any kind of position on the board ... this is a culmination, his lack of responsibility ... and I just can't take any more of this."
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