… AAG trials on tomorrow
THIS weekend will mark the commencement of the Amateur Athletics Association’s (AAG) preparations for the annual Inter-Guiana Games (IGG), an event which the local athletics fraternity has firmly held in its grasp for the better part of the past decade.
The local trials for the event will be held tomorrow at the Enmore Community Centre Ground and according to the veteran track and field coach, Lyndon Wilson, the talented prospects for selection to the representative squad give confidence to the prognostication of yet another Guyanese triumph in the athletics portion of the three-nation competition among Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
Wilson related that the observations made at last year’s National Schools’ Championships indicated the strength of the junior athletes who will most likely be competing for spots on the IGG team tomorrow.
He also noted the AAG’s pre-emptive position on whipping this year’s squad into shape by highlighting the string of developmental meets, and the special conditions of these developmental meets, two of which have already been run off and a third which is to be held next weekend.
As a measure to increase the amount of competitive exposure the athletes receive leading up to the games, the AAG has swapped the usual developmental events with the usual events that are used in official track meets.
Wilson addressed the fact that while the track athletes are the most dominant the weakness in the jumps (i.e. Long Jump and Triple Jump), especially for the female competitors, is an area of concern.
The gradual decrease in the disparity of the athletic prowess of the Guyanese athletes and those from Suriname and French Guiana has been evident over the years and as such Wilson related his wariness of our continental neighbours.
The trials begin at 10:00 h tomorrow for the games which will be held a bit early this year at the end of March.