THE GUYANA Amateur Powerlifting Federation (GAPF) last Sunday re-elected Peter Greene as its president and has immediately signalled their intent to charter a way forward for the sport. 

Greene was re-elected unopposed for his eighth year with most of his executives still intact, except for Deon Dutt who was replaced by Dr Osmond Mack as treasurer, while Karl Marks and Jagdesh Budhram replaced Erwin Smith and Wendell McPherson as committee members.
Speaking with the Federation Public Relations Officer (PRO) Denroy Livan, he disclosed that the GAPF is working on more community outreach programmes to further promote the sport.
Livan said, “We are trying our best to get among the conversations of people, so they could start talking about powerlifting; we are trying to get women and younger folks involved so we need to get into the schools and communities to do such.”
“We expect powerlifting to take-off – we have had, I would like to say, general success over the past few years and we want to see power lifting grow further,” he added.
The GAPF wants to take the sport to the highland areas such as Rupununi, as they think there are capable persons in that area and this they view as another effort to take on general growth, even as Linden, Berbice and Essequibo have also been identified on the Federation’s map.
Meanwhile, the body has its radar on the Paralympics with lifters responding admirably, and they are expected to make their mark soon.
According to Livan, the GAPF will be bidding again to host international tournaments despite futile efforts to host the Caribbean Championships this year and the first on the GAPF’s agenda is the tournament dubbed ‘Clash of Champions’, which will only feature invited athletes.
The event will give lifters the much needed opportunity of making qualifying marks for the Pan American and Commonwealth Championships set for September and December respectively.
The Federation’s calendar of events will commence with the hosting of a referee and coaches clinic on Sunday April 26, at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue.
Interested persons are asked to register with International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) Certified referees, John Edwards and Gordon Spencer and all national referees and coaches are invited to attend. (Photo – DenroyLivan)