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St. Lucia signals 9-member contingent for Guyana
Winfield Braithwaite Caribbean Schoolboys/Juniors Championship…
Kaieteur Sports – Labelling Guyana as the proverbial epicenter of English speaking Caribbean boxing, St Lucia Boxing Association President David ‘Shakes’ Christopher announced that the island will invade the ‘Land of Many Waters’ with a nine member contingent for the prestigious Winfield Braithwaite Caribbean Schoolboys/Juniors Championship.
St Lucia Boxing Association President, David ‘Shakes’ Christopher
This was disclosed during an exclusive interview. Christopher disclosed, “This year our team will likely comprise nine fighters. We are presently developing a schools programme and want to use the Caribbean School Boys tournament to expose these boxers. We recently opened a new gym in the south of the islands that had been dormant due to crime and these are the guys that have stayed in the sport and represented that area. They just came back from a tournament in Martinique. We are targeting mostly 16 year olds and also a nine year old.”
The annual event which is distinctively a Guyanese conception, is penciled to commence during the month of August. St. Lucia’s previous participation in the prestigious extravaganza, which was influenced by the then prevailing Covid-19 pandemic, resulted in a gold and silver medal haul from its two member representatives.
Christopher disclosed that the team will undertake arduous preparation for the event with the staging of the OECS Championship which is scheduled for the period of July 28th-29th, and is expected to receive participation from the likes of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago as well as the French Territories of Martinique, and Guadeloupe.
According to Christopher, this is indicative of the importance of the Winfield Braithwaite Caribbean Schoolboys/Juniors Championship, explaining, “This is our youth Olympics in the Caribbean for boxing. While there are CAC Games and the like, they don’t give youths the natural exposure that is required. This tournament gives them a stage to showcase themselves, this is developmental, and this is what is required for boxing in the Caribbean.”
He further expounded, “We want and need to expose our boxers, and tournaments such as this will save boxing. The sport is going through several international issues and these tournaments are necessary to save the sport. We as leaders in the Caribbean have to hold it together for the region. We have to showcase where the monies need to be channeled and invested which is grassroots development like what occurs in Guyana. That is how we will save the sport. IBA has announced in Brasilia that US$50,000 has been earmarked for youth and grassroots development. That figure will also be increased next year, and as such, we must take heed and develop the sport at this level. Guyana has already taken that step.”
“Guyana is presently the hub of Caribbean boxing, they have the oil and everyone is going there to train and prepare because they have the quality boxers, trainers and better equipped facilities. Guyana is our Cuba, and we have to work together to develop the sport. Myself, Mr. Ninvalle [Guyana], Mr. Roberts [Grenada], and Mr. Forde [Trinidad and Tobago], we have to lead the way for the region and continue the development of boxing which is currently viewed as a bastard child of the sporting world”, he further said.
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