SURINAME, a small Dutch-speaking colony to the east of Guyana, gained its independence in 1975 from the Netherlands. Twenty years later, in 1995, this country, became the 14th Member State of the Caribbean Community. Now, the Surinamese are gearing up for prestigious sports accolades when, for the first time since being inaugurated into this prestigious body, they will field a team, contesting for honours at the 7th edition of the Winfield Braithwaite Caribbean Schoolboys and Schoolgirls Boxing Extravaganza, August 16-18, at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue.

This publication spoke with the manager of the Suriname team, SarayaTruideman, and she was very optimistic that her charges would make a huge impression at the tournament. “My boxers have prepared well for this outing and are ready to face all comers,” Ms Truideman declared. She said that the team consists of four youths and five senior boxers. Two females, one youth, and one senior boxer also comprise a part of the squad. The Dutch team will be accompanied by Head Coach, Dino Nasim while Anthony Nekrui will be her assistant. Grace Sahdoe is the team’s Caregiver and according to Ms. Truideman, she is the organisational force in the unit. “Our boxers are in great shape and we are currently tying up the loose ends,” confided their coach. She further informed that two of her charges, Donna G and Valentino (only names provided) are both Surinamese champions after securing gold medals in their last outing.

“One of my male fighters, Michael, fought once and lost. He then switched to Kickboxing and has been doing fine. He will once again enter the ring for conventional boxing and is expected to do well,” stressed the Surinamese coach.
Apart from the highly anticipated fistic fury, the tournament is meant to be a uniting factor among the CARICOM States and the organisers are confident that they have attained this goal over the years and will continue to positively impact unity within the Region. Guyana is the defending champions. The action commences at 19:00 hours on the inaugural night, just after the march past and opening ceremony.