Latest update March 24th, 2025 7:05 AM
CARIFTA games pushed backed to this August
Aubrey Hutson
Kaieteur News – The 2021 Caribbean Free Trade Association (Carifta) Games, scheduled for Bermuda, has been pushed back to August 13 to 15.
The announcement came on Thursday at a virtual press conference from Mike Sands, president of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC).
The Games was postponed in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and then rescheduled from April to July this year.
Sands said that the latest change was necessary because the previous dates from July 2 to 4 were clashing with the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) regional exams.
“The Games was scheduled for July 2 to 4 and, lo and behold, we received official word several days ago that the CXC exams have been scheduled for June 14 to July 16,” Sands said. “Of course, I need not tell you that it fell smack in the middle of our planning and would directly affect the vast majority, if not all, of our athletes. We undertook a series of emergency meetings to look at whatever dates were available.
“We also had continuous meetings with the president of Bermuda National Athletics Association, Donna Raynor, and we had no choice at this stage, based on consultation with our members, and arrived at the date of August 13-15 for the new Carifta Games.”
The Carifta Games is arguably the biggest and most popular annual junior athletics championships in the region.
In the 48-year history of the Games, Jamaica has topped the medal table 43 times and the country’s last defeat was in 1984 when The Bahamas won at home.
The annual Carifta Games is usually staged on the traditional Easter weekend.
Head of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), Aubrey Hutson, in an invited comment with Kaieteur Sport explained that he had foreseen the date being an issue with the CXC examinations but nevertheless a solution has been found.
Hutson hailed the decision as excellent but noted the only logistical problem for not only Guyanese athletes but all the juniors is the fact that the World Junior Championships are scheduled to run off one week after the Bermuda Carifta games, an issue he is certain the AAG will find amicable solution to.
Hutson further noted that the more time the local organising committee (LOC) for the Bermuda games gets, the better it will be for them to ensure all systems are in place for smooth sailing.
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