By Tamica Garnett
The Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) will be foregoing the upcoming Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Junior Championships in favour of the South American Youth Championships.
This was disclosed by president of the AAG Colin Boyce who said budget constraints will not allow the AAG to field teams at both events.
The SAYC is billed for Santiago, Peru on October 2-3 while the CAC Junior Championships are scheduled to be held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from July 2-4.
Boyce said that taking into consideration the financial position of the AAG it was determined that attendance at both events was not feasible.
He said that the SAYC received priority over the CAC championships because of certain requirements that the AAG needed to fulfill pertaining to their affiliation with the governing international body, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF).
Boyce explained that being a part of the South American assemblage, the AAG needed to participate in a stipulated number of home events every year.
“We will not be attending it (CAC) but we will be attending the South American Youth championships. We are not financially viable enough to attend both events,” Boyce declared.
“And we have to attend our area championships, we are a part of the South American continent so we have to participate in a certain amount of meets every year in order to qualify for our grants,” he explained.
The South American Youth Championships are held every two years and is restricted to athletes between 16–17 years of age. Meanwhile, Stabroek Sport understands that the AAG is looking to send two athletes to the SAYC.
IT is also hoped that should favourable financial conditions persist a third athlete could be sent.
“We are looking at two, due to cost factor, but if by then our financial situation has improved we may consider a third athlete,” Boyce stated.
He said that the association was not ready to disclose exactly who the selected athletes would be, but what could be said was that the hopefuls had already been acknowledged and the association was simply continuing to assess the current performance of those athletes.
“There wouldn’t be any trials. We have already identified the athletes since earlier in the year and we just have to continue to monitor the athletes.”
According to Boyce, the AAG’s attendance at the event will be funded via the grants received from the IAAF.