– GBA ups preparation for Caribbean Championship

THE annual Caribbean School Boys and Junior Championship is penciled for August and, to this end, the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) will resume its monthly under-16 preparatory competition from tomorrow at the Andrew ‘Six Head’ Lewis gym, Albouystown from 13:00hrs.

Technical Director of the GBA, Terrence Poole, who is part of the technical committee that orchestrates the logistical elements of the event, stated, “This is once again another event of the twice a month under-16 school boys and junior competition. The reason we are conducting these tournaments is that they serve as the primary preparation for the Caribbean School Boys Championship which is to be hosted in August.”

He further shared, “We are doing all this as part of our preparation to identify our best fighters. That is why we are having the event so frequently so that we can provide competition to the boxers. It’s very important for us to have this type of competition so that they will be ready for the Caribbean tournament. Registration of fighters and the competing gyms will occur on Sunday from 10am. The medical assessments will also occur during that time.”

Meanwhile, President of the GBA, Steve Ninvalle said, “Our under-16 championship is the backbone of Guyana’s boxing, continued and sustained dominance in the English-speaking Caribbean. This event, which is married to our historic weekend training camps, forms the bedrock of our developmental thrust and streamlines and strengthens our transitionary protocols for the discipline which has seen evidentiary success.”

He further said, “Our emphasis will always be on our youth programmes, which have continued to form the architecture of the association’s developmental agenda. From infancy to the professional ranks, this age group remains a vital component of ensuring strategic and evolutionary continuity for our emerging talents and rising stars. The importance of this initiative cannot be understated.”

Conducted twice on a monthly basis, the U-16 championships serve as the primary preparatory apparatus of the association for the prestigious Caribbean School Boys and Juniors Competition.

In 2022, approximately 16 editions were conducted by the GBA. The entity is programmed to smash that number during the current calendar year. The resumption of the monthly programme also aligns with the GBA’s ongoing weekly training procedure for U-16 and Senior pugilists at the same facility.

The aforesaid stratagem, which serves primarily as a high-performance structure to better equip pugilists for the rigors of international competition, is supervised and administered by the technical and experienced trident of national coach, Lennox Daniels, Technical Director, Terrence Poole, and Cuban coach Francisco Roldan.