In excess of 1500 student athletes and teachers from across Guyana will converge in the city to compete in the 56th edition of the National Schools Cycling, Swimming and Track and Field Championships which starts on November 21.
The National Aquatic Centre, the National Park and the National Stadium will be buzzing with activities as the students and teachers from the 15 districts battle for medals and one year’s bragging rights.
During the official launch of the event yesterday at the auditorium of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development in Kingston, President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Mark Lyte mentioned that “all the districts are ready to compete.” The GTU head also noted that the organizers are committed to ensuring that the Track and Field segment of the Championships is moved to the National Track and Field Center at Leonora next year.
It was somewhat a matter of dissatisfaction that this year’s Championships, of which the track and field competition is the most central component is not being moved to the internationally certified edifice.
Athletics will not be hosted at Leonora since many of the athletes, which include children under the age of eight, will not have the required footwear and this was not budgeted for, despite talks last year that the issue would have been addressed by this year.
Instead the events will once again be held primarily at the National Stadium at Providence. Cycling will be staged at the National Park, and swimming is scheduled for the National Aquatic Centre.
Lyte nonetheless is confident of moving the event to Leonora, while other proposals such as separating the competition into senior and junior editions are also still being considered. As it pertains to the overall standard of the competition, Lyte said that he believes that continuous improvements have been forthcoming throughout the years but admitted that much is still to be done.
Meanwhile, Minister responsible for Sport, Nicolette Henry stated that one cannot overlook having sports as an integral part of the school’s curriculum. “Games and sports are an integral part of a student’s life, it is indispensable from the all-round development.” Henry added “It is my firm belief that sports must be introduced at the earliest level if we really want to identify and train the best of our potential athletes in any sporting discipline.”
The minister also used to forum to once again admit that much is lacking in the support given to Guyanese athletes.
During her speech, Henry also lauded the efforts of both Digicel and Banks DIH Limited for remaining stalwart supporters of the annual fixture..
