… Chef-de-Mission cautious about medal prospects but optimistic about rewards

THE Guyana contingent of 15 athletes, and their respective officials are set to depart Guyana today for Santiago, Chile where they will be the country’s representatives at this year’s South American Youth Games, which runs from September 29 to October 8.
Chef-de-Mission for the team is Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) vice-president, Godfrey Munroe, who promises that the team represents the best that the country has to offer, and as far as expectations are concerned he hopes that the athletes make the best of the experience.

Munroe was cautious about medal prospects, but expectations are there.
“I would want to be modest in that regard, being my first outing as the Chef. I know the South American region is very tough, but what I know is that we have our best athletes. We urge them to do their best,” Munroe told Chronicle Sport.
The focus is more on what the Guyanese can take away from the events, with hopes riding on qualification for next year’s Youth Olympic Games, since the South American Youth Games is a qualifying event.
“If we get some qualifiers for the Youth Olympic Games, and some personal bests, and seeing them being competitive, the medals would be just a bonus for us. We’re competing against much more financed team, so we have to take those things into consideration, when we talk about medals, I don’t want to overreach and say well yes,” Munroe elaborated.

Of the 21 sports being contested at this year’s Games, Guyana will be represented in athletics, basketball, badminton, boxing, and table tennis.
Athletics and boxing, which were also represented the last time the Games was held in Lima Peru, are touted as having the highest expectations.
Overall, however, the Guyana team is made up of several relatively inexperienced athletes. However, they are those with experience at such levels.
For the athletics team, only sprinter Kenisha Phillips has been making the rounds as a top national athlete over the past two years. She was a member on the team at last year’s South American Youth Athletics Championships and is a double South American Junior Championships bronze medallist.

The other athletes are relatively inexperienced, and not that widely known.
President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), Aubrey Hutson, admitted it was somewhat of a challenge to select athletes, because of the age range of the category, and the time at which the Games is being held. Athletes selected for the team had to be between the ages of 14 and 17 years old.
“We checked our records and came up with the top five athletes. In some instances it was difficult deciding on the athletes. These meet do come at a difficult time in the athletic calendar but we will go out and do our best,” Hutson said.
Over in boxing Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) president, Steve Ninvalle is very optimistic about his boxers – Keevin Allicock (flyweight) and Christopher Moore.
Allicock and Moore both have recently benefited from an outing at the Commonwealth Youth Games in July, and participated in the Caribbean Championships last year – events that Ninvalle said will benefit them well, even though he still sees the SAYG as a great test for the youngsters.

“I think that the South American Games will be a challenge but I know that we are capable of overcoming all challenges. The boxers now are better equipped after having much needed international exposure at the Commonwealth Youth Games and last year’s Caribbean Championships,”
At the end of the day, Ninvalle says, medal or no medal the experience will still benefit the Simon Pures as they continue to develop their skills.
“Although we would like to have medals, I think just being at the South America Youth Games will be a plus. These two young boxers will be given the opportunity to represent Guyana at many more international competitions. This is just the starting block. I would hope that we would have Mr Allicock at next year’s Commonwealth Games, because this is someone we are gearing for the Olympics,” Ninvalle said.

The team is as follows:
Chef-de-Mission: Godfrey Munroe
ATHLETICS: Kenisha Phillips (girls 100m, 200m), Annalisa Barclay (girls long and triple jumps), Deshana Skeete (girls 200m and
400m), Jermaine King (boys 100m, 200m), Mark Solomon (boys 100m and 200m). Official: Wanda Richmond.
BOXERS: Keevin Allicock (flyweight), Christopher Moore (lightweight). Official: Terrence Poole
BASKETBALL (3×3): Akeem Crandon, Isaiah Hintzen, Nigel Bowen, and Shamar France. Official: Junior Hercules
BADMINTON: Priyanna Ramdhani and Tyrese Jeffrey. Official: Gokarn Ramdhani
TABLE TENNIS: Miguel Wong and Nickolus Romain. Official: Idi Lewis