Dear Editor,
President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that the Inter –Guiana Games (IGG) will return. Our youths and students are delighted, and welcome the decision that was taken by the Governments of Guyana and Suriname to re- introduce the (IGG).
The President has listed several vital nation-building projects between our two countries, and highlighted some of the key areas of co-operation.
“Key to all of this is our people-to-people partnership; as President Santokhi put it, that is putting our people together in a space and environment that they can share and appreciate each other,” President Ali remarked.
The two leaders have committed to re-energising the Inter-Guiana Games. The Inter-Guiana cultural platform that was started will continue with sports, cultural education and technological exchanges as part of forging greater unity, trust, and understanding of our people.
The Inter-Guiana Games aim to create possibilities for the youths and students to gather together in order to compete in different sporting disciplines, focusing on better sports’ results and better understanding of each other’s culture.
The Protocol of Agreement and General Rules and Regulations of the Games provide for students who are in school and under the age of 19 years to participate in the Games. Significantly, participating students must be attending school in their respective countries. The Games give our students opportunity to compete for superiority in a highly competitive way. The organisers of this annual activity help our students to prepare in their respective sporting disciplines. As a consequence, clubs and national sports associations usually participate fully in preparing our youths for the Games.
The early exposure to international competition enables our country to participate fully at the Junior CARIFTA Games. The annual “Teach Them Young” sports programme also gives our students an exposure to participate in different sporting disciplines. As a result, our students develop a positive attitude towards sports, and later develop genuine interest in sports’ specifics. Expectations are high, and already several national sport associations and the students are making preparation for the re-introduction of the Games.
Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are the three countries that usually participate in the Games. Football, volleyball, table tennis, badminton and basketball are the highly competitive sports events. While Suriname normally dominates in swimming, the young Guyanese swimmers are showing tremendous improvement. Guyana’s dominance in athletics over the years will continue with the preparation by our athletes at the special track-and-field facility at Leonora.
As the three countries commence discussions in preparation for the Games, individuals and teams at the club level are focusing on getting ready for the return of the IGG.
Sincerely,
Neil Kumar
