Cornucopia of sports activities heralds Olympic Day celebrations

Jun 23, 2013 Sports

By Michael Benjamin
As athletes and administrators worldwide celebrate National Olympics Day today, administrators and sportspersons of several disciplines convened at the National Gymnasium and showcased their skill when the Guyana Olympics Association (GOA) staged a day of Olympics activities at that venue yesterday morning.

The young racquet wielders are taken through their paces during sessions yesterday.

The day’s activities got underway when a group of students out of the David Rose Centre engaged in a 90 minutes session in the intricacies of Bocce, a game that required skill and adept applications with a ball rolled along the surface of the ground; Terrence Fox was in charge of this activity. Ideally, activities are conducted on a pitch specially constructed of clay and situated on the terrace of the National Gymnasium but heavy overnight rains left the surface sodden and forced administrators to shift activities indoors on the concreted surface.
Nevertheless, the players remained unperturbed and diligently applied themselves to the intricacies of the sport.
Several teams also showcased their skills in volleyball including Berbice ‘A’ and ‘B,’ Achievers ‘A’ and ‘B,’ Achievers Juniors, Guyana Defence Force and a female squad. Matches were played in a competitive spirit and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) was the first casualty, losing to Young Achievers (YA) 30-15. However, the soldiers returned to claim the honours against the Port Mourant Training Centre (PMTC) 30-26 and Achievers ‘B’ 30-29. Moments before, the female team lost to their junior counterparts 30-19 just before Achievers ‘A’ took care of Achievers ‘B’ 30-25. Achievers ‘A’ then returned and brought down the curtains with a 30-24 victory over Achievers.
Weightlifting activities were conducted by Deion Nurse, while volleyball was conducted by several affiliates including Head of the Technical Commission of the Guyana Volleyball Association (GVA), Trevor Smith, President of the GVA, Lennox Shuffler and Colonel John Flores.
Coordinator of table tennis activities and head coach, Linden Johnson, facilitated activities in the table tennis department and tutored his charges in the finer aspects of the sport. He said that the youngsters are preparing for the 8th Pre-Cadet Table-tennis championships slated for Georgetown from August 9-15. As such, the Olympic Day activities presented the perfect opportunity to tutor the youngsters in the finer aspect of the sport.

Mr. Shuffler presents one of the players with his prize while other players observe. Also in photo is GOA official, Karen Pilgrim.

Shortly after the culmination of activities, Karen Pilgrim delivered a pep talk to the participants and underlined the importance of sport in their lives. She also reminded them that whereas local activities to commemorate Olympics day was initially centred around athletics, GOA administrators have since incorporated other disciplines into the mix.