THEY came by the hundreds to the first- ever Day of Interaction held in the hinterland in Region Nine, which was held at the St Ignatius Community Centre Ground on Sunday May 22. The Day of Interaction was organised by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS) and the National Sports Commission (NSC) in partnership with the Office of the Regional Democratic Council of Region 9 and UNICEF.
Athletes and supporters gathered as early as 08:00hrs from communities such as Lethem, Culvert City, St. Ignatius, Tabatinga, Kumu, Quarrie, Moco Moco, Parishara, Nappi, Haiwa, Pariqurinau, Shulinab and Patarinau and also a contingent from Bon Fin (Brazil).
In attendance to participate in this historical day were the Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony, Director of Sport Neil Kumar, Permanent Secretary in the MCYS Alfred King, Mesdames Jewel Crosse, Adolescent Development and Participation Officer.
Christine Hofer, JPO – M & E and Social Policy, UNICEF, Mr Dharamkumar Seeraj, General Secretary, Guyana Rice Producers’ Association, Mr Ronald Harsawack, Regional Executive Officer, Region 9 among other Regional Officers and community leaders and several Tousicios.
The officials who addressed the gathering, all expressed satisfaction at the large turnout from the various communities and the discipline and interest shown and advised that the Day of Interaction should continue to achieve its objective of bringing a large number of people together which will help to make the society more cohesive.
In his remarks, Dr Anthony informed those present of the Government’s policy, plans and programmes for the development of sports, sports facilities and sportsmen and sportswomen around the country and the interior in particular.
Dr Anthony also promised to develop several grounds in the region while he was very generous in giving out sports equipment which the clubs and villagers said will make them prepare better for the games later this year.
The minister and his UNICEF team said the Games must be an annual signature event on the calendar.
St Ignatius, with the largest contingent, and Patarinau, the best uniformed team, gained the judges’ nod and were rewarded with special prizes.
It was interesting to observe the high level of performances at the different sports disciplines. The female volleyballers displayed tremendous skill and knowledge of the game. They were heartening to watch when they were in action.
At the end of the activities which went way into the night, the results were as follows: St Ignatius ‘B’ won the male volleyball competition from Parishara, whom they defeated two sets to one in the final (11 teams competed).
On the distaff side, eight teams vied for supremacy but the St Ignatius ladies emulated their male counterparts by taking the title with two sets to nil over Patarinau.
Of the six teams registered to do battle in the softball competition, Agriculture 70-2 defeated Patarinau 37-4 in the first semi-final while in the second semi–final, Shulinab 50-0 defeated Kumu, who were only able to score 38 for 8 in reply.
The two giants met in the final and again Agriculture were unstoppable as they crushed Shulinab, wherein they scored 93 for 2 and restricted Shulinab to 56 for 3 in reply.
For the winners D. Jagdeo and B. Narine were the principal scorers with 37 and 29 runs respectively, while J. Eusibio scored 30 and E. Lewis 18 were the top scorers for the losers.
The teams also competed in football and in the first semifinal, Parishara with 1 goal each from E. Williams and J. Lamaizon defeated Tabatinga, 2 goals to nil while A. Leonard’s lone goal enabled St Ignatius ‘A’ to edge Moco Moco 1-nil.
The anticipated exciting final saw St Ignatius ‘A’ and Tabatinga play to a 1-all draw at the end of regulation time, before T. Parks’ sudden-death penalty strike handed St Ignatius ‘A’ the title.
Ten teams competed in the female football tournament which was an encouraging sight, in comparison to the eight which competed for the male title, and after outstanding performances in the preliminary games which included national players from Region 9, Bon Fin of Brazil lost to Kumu by one-nil in the semi-final, before they defeated Haiwa 2-1 in the final.
The dominoes competition was won by Police who scored 89 games to get the better of Tabatinga who scored 72 games leaving St Ignatius at the bottom with 53 games.
Trophies were presented to winners and runners-up in the different disciplines, while sports gear and equipment were also distributed to assist in the development of sports in the Region.
So satisfied and impressed were the officials from the MCYS, the NSC, UNICEF and the Regional Administration of Region Nine that arrangements are already in place to have another Day of Interaction in the Region later this year.