ATHLETES from Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad & Tobago are in Guyana for the Caribbean Area Squash Association (CASA) Junior Championships.

The individual segment, where Guyana won three gold medals, concluded July 12 and attention has now shifted to the all-important team segment which started yesterday.

All but St Vincent will participate in the team segment. The official opening ceremony was staged yesterday afternoon at the National Racquet Centre.

President of the Guyana Squash Association, (GSA) Owen Verwey, in a passionate appeal, encouraged the players to keep producing their best and stated these championships are part of building lifelong memories.

“You don’t always get a medal on your first occasion, the second occasion, sometimes not even the third occasion but it should not stop you from giving your best, pushing beyond limits, going beyond the best that you would have ever done and continuing to do one thing, never to give up,” Verwey expressed.

Vice-president of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), Godfrey Munroe, highlighted the GOA is the title sponsor, and they support in a jiffy due to the professionalism of the association, and they also view the tournament as an “incubator” for talent.

Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Kashif Muhammad, contended that “greatness is not born, it is made … practice makes perfect”, and such are pillars that he sees embodied in GSA and the reason for their dominance in the Caribbean.

Guyana are in the hunt to regain the title after last tasting overall success in 2016. However, this is the first Junior CASA since 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.