Guiana Games athletics team will not be encamped

Apr 22, 2009 Sports

– Boyce opposes decision

By Edison Jefford

While preparations for the staging of the athletics competition of the Inter–Guiana Games are on stream, President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), Colin Boyce has expressed disappointment over non–encampment.

Colin Boyce

Following a meeting with Director of Sport, Neil Kumar, yesterday morning, Boyce told Kaieteur Sport that he was peeved at the discovery that the national athletes will not have the encampment opportunity ahead of the Games.

“I was campaigning for the athletes to be encamped so that they can be familiar with each other and gel as a team,” Boyce said, adding that Kumar told him that it was too costly to have all the athletes encamped for the competition.

The AAG President indicated that he was disappointed because as much as the discipline, track and field, is one of the most important of the Games, he felt that it should have been treated better at the National Sports Commission.

“They [the commission] can depend on track and field to bring home the championship trophy. They ought to treat the sport better,” Boyce said after revealing that only out–of–town athletes will be encamped for the Guiana Games.

The encampment phase of the Games is one of the traditional aspects of the event where the national athletes take time to interact and unite as a team. The previous camps were usually held at the YMCA in Thomas Lands.

Guyana will host the initial stage of the Guiana Games including track and field, football and swimming from Friday. The track and field competition will be the first discipline on display at the Police Sports Club Ground.

The other disciplines represented at the Games are basketball, volleyball and cycling. The second phase is billed for Suriname later this year. Boyce told this newspaper yesterday that systems are being implemented for the Games.

“We are trying to get things in place. We’ve already cut the ground and we are preparing to welcome the teams on Thursday [tomorrow],” Boyce said, adding that local athletes should all be present at the host venue tomorrow.

Initially, the team was expected to undergo training together with Raymond Daw as their national coach but that did not materialise since athletes were not encamped for the meet. The team consists of 28 male and female athletes.