The Cayman Islands became the first territory to officially register for next month’s Winfield Braithwaite Caribbean Schoolboys and Juniors Boxing Tournament.
Their boxing association has registered a team of one boxer and two officials for the August 19-21 event which will be staged at the National Gymnasium.
Sixteen year-old light middleweight Alec Lopez will be the representative of the island nation. Yolande Lopez is the manager of the team while Trinidadian national Floyd Trumpet is the coach.
President of the Guyana Boxing Association, (GBA) Steve Ninvalle yesterday applauded the early action of the Cayman Islands team while adding that the fifth edition of the annual tournament is expected to see the largest amount of countries participating.
“We have given July 19th as our cutoff date for registration. I have been assured by Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Bahamas, St Lucia, Barbados, Jamaica and Grenada that they will be sending teams. It is heartening news since we are all coming out of COVID-19 and need such competition,” Ninvalle said.
The GBA has heightened chances of retaining the Champion Country title after flying in respected and qualified Cuban coach Francisco Roldan. Roldan will take over the reigns of Guyana’s nursery leading up to the tournament.
According to Ninvalle, the GBA has been staging two Under-16 tournaments per month since January in order to be fully prepared for the overseas invasion. “The last of these competitions is scheduled for July 17 at the National Gymnasium.
This will be followed by the selection of a national squad which Mr. Roldan will be in charge of,” the GBA boss added.
Encampment is scheduled for two weeks before the tournament at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. Formerly known as the Caribbean Schoolboys and Juniors, the tournament is the brainchild of Ninvalle and was first held in 2016. Guyana has hosted every one since and has won Champion Country on all occasions.
