Regional boxing tournament 2022: Winfield Braithwaite Schoolboys and Juniors for August

…Cayman Islands already registered

After the constraints of the Coronavirus pandemic and the hosting of numerous Under-16 Mike Parris/Pepsi tournaments locally, youth boxers will now have the chance to test their mettle on the big stage with the return of the Winfield Braithwaite Schoolboys and Juniors Regional Boxing Tournament.

According to a missive from the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), the tournament is expected to be hosted from August 19-21, and countries have already signalled their intention to compete.
Guyana has, since January, been hosting bi-weekly under- 16 tournaments across the country; those are sure to come in handy for Guyana’s hosting and participation in this event.
On the leadership side of things, the GBA are confident they “have heightened their chances of retaining the Champion Country title” after retaining the services of Cuban coach Francisco Roldan. It is expected that Roldan will take the reins of training Guyana’s nursery leading up to the tournament.
About the Pepsi/Mike Parris U16 and its importance to the Regional Championships, GBA President Steve Ninvalle shared, “The last of these competitions is scheduled for July 17 at the National Gymnasium. This will be followed by the selection of a national squad which Mr. Roldan will be in charge of.”
Following selection, encampment of Guyana’s Schoolboys and Juniors team is scheduled for two weeks prior to the tournament.
Meanwhile, the first country to have registered for the Winfield Braithwaite tournament is the Cayman Islands (CI), which has indicated the participation of one pugilist and two officials. The CI boxer is 16-year-old light middleweight Alec Lopez, who will be coached by Trinidadian National Floyd Trumpet, and managed by Yolande Lopez.
“We have given July 19th as our cutoff date for registration. I have been assured by Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Bahamas, St Lucia, Barbados, Jamaica and Grenada that they will be sending teams. It is heartening news, since we are all coming out of COVID-19 and need such competition,” Ninvalle said about registration and participation that he anticipates from other countries.
The Caribbean Schoolboys and Juniors Tournament was first hosted in 2016 in Guyana, and was later renamed after Winfield Braithwaite, a Guyanese Commonwealth Games boxer. The brainchild of Steve Ninvalle and his other executives, the Schoolboys and Juniors Tournament is geared at generating and maintaining a nursery of boxers in order to develop boxing talent in Guyana and around the Caribbean Region.
This is the fifth hosting of this tournament; Guyana has won the past four editions. This tournament will be contested at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) this year.