Planning for third National Relay Festival underway

The stage is being set for the successful hosting of the third annual Ministry of Education’s, Allied Arts National Schools Relay Festival 2018.

The committee, headed by Nicholas Fraser, Coordinator of Physical Education, commenced meeting today (Tuesday) ahead of the two-day mega event slated for the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora, West Coast Demerara.

“This is an event being hosted in collaboration with the Athletics Association of Guyana and its objective is to afford secondary and tertiary institutions to showcase their skills in track and field events,” a release from the Ministry stated.

It added, “It promotes healthy/positive life choices while encouraging camaraderie and networking in addition to team spirit. Some 52 races are carded. The event will see participation from seasoned athletes as well as to provide a platform for the discovery of others who may well further put Guyana on the international circuit. We expect stars to be born and records to be broken.”

Invitations have been issued to all Regional Education Offices, inviting them to field the best athletes from secondary schools, and higher education Institutions. These institutions have until March 21 to respond.

This is the third year since the commencement of the festival, which was launched as part of the Ministry of Education Golden Jubilee festival activities in May 2016.

Already, Fraser and his team have commenced engaging prospective sponsors however, the door remains open for other sponsors to get on board the train to ensure that their brand is a part of history as they support the development of the nation’s budding athletes, some of whom have gone on to represent Guyana at regional meets.

The Meet Director is Aubrey Hutson, President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG). He assured that the AAG is fully on board since this event provides another platform at the schools level for Guyana to produce, prepare and also build on the local pool of athletes for local, regional and international engagements.  

The committee members are Nicholas Fraser – Chairman; Regina Torrington-Secretary; Lorraine Barker-King- Finance and Hospitality Coordinator; Aubrey Hutson- Meet Director; Tandika Calderia- Officials and Volunteers Coordinator; Trevor Williams- Venue Coordinator; and Mondale Smith-Marketing Coordinator.