By Treiston Joseph
The Local Organising Committee (LOC) is boasting that all systems are in place for the successful hosting of the South American Junior Championship on June 3-4 in Guyana.
President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), Aubrey Hutson, said, “They say necessity is the mother of all invention and what we have found is that a number of companies here can do the pits and the hammer cage so that is a good thing and we anticipate that everything should be in by this weekend, giving us an entire week with ahead of the championships.”
Manager of the Guyana team, Cornell Rose, believes the team will do well at the championships despite the lack of competition ahead of the event, which will be hosted at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora.
“I think we can have 99% success because we have a slew of coaches working with the team and I think the training that the athletes have been doing will suffice ahead of the competition because they have being going hard and the constant training with each other will give them that competitive edge,” Rose noted.
Hutson also noted that the team morale is high ahead of the two-day event. “It’s great because I think the athletes understand the importance of having the meet here and what it means for Guyana and they will give of their best especially with the South American countries knowing our capabilities and want the full force of our competition.”
Indranauth Haralsingh of the Ministry of Tourism said the role of the Ministry will be to boost marketing ahead of the event, putting the event right up there with the likes of the Caribbean Premier League in terms of the opportunity to promote Guyana through Sport Tourism.
A total of 50 athletes have been selected to represent the Golden Arrowhead with 27 being males and 23 females. Guyana will participate in every event except decathlon, heptathlon, pole vault, hammer throw and a few hurdles.
Admission to the venue is $500 per day.
