– said EA President Aubrey Hutson

This year the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) Games will not be held over the normal Easter weekend, but would be staged from July 2-4 in Bermuda.

AAG President Aubrey Hutson

With the CARIFTA Games still on track for the 2021 staging, the Guyana Athletic Association (AAG) will now anticipate their chance to host the Games next year.
While AAG President Aubrey Hutson welcomes Guyana’s opportunity to stage the Games, there is some resounding disappointment over the athletes who would become ineligible to compete due to age restrictions.
“We’ve had some great athletes who would have qualified last year, but unfortunately many of them would have passed the age. They would either have moved up in the category, or passed the age of 19, ”Hutson told this publication.
In a candid candid interview with Guyana Times Sport, Hutson explained that June was the month initially looked at, but objections were made in relation to student-athletes having to be accommodated to sit their Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Education (CSEC) and Advanced Proficiency Examinations Caribbean. (CAPE).
To reassure the Association, parents and athletes, Hutson hopes that by then some vaccine protocol would be in place.
“We are really hopeful that either vaccine or immunization of some sort is going on, so we can get athletes traveling just like they do with yellow fever and all the other ailments when we have to we will not travel, ”explained the President of the RPA.
Confirmation that the event is being held in July this year means that Guyana is next to host the Games. As it is the 50th edition of CARIFTA Games, the AAG is bent on perfect execution.
The EA Boss shared that adaptations would be made to the Leonora Track and Field Facility where the games are slated to take place. In addition, the subject Sports Minister, Charles Ramson Jr., is fully supportive.
Detailing the Minister’s involvement, Hutson told this publication, “He has, so far, been on the board with us in hosting this meeting. I have to say that he is very, very passionate about CARIFTA Games coming to Guyana, and he really wants to play a big part in the fact that we are putting on a good show for the rest of the world. ”
In the meantime, Hutson informed that the EAW, meanwhile, is working with the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) to remove the kinks in advance for 2022.
“Most of the subject areas relating to the CARIFTA Games have been introduced. There are still a few of them that we have to clear with NACAC about how we are going to do this.
“We must remember that they are still the keepers of the meeting, but they are asking us to deliver the meeting on their behalf; so, we’re looking at the different budget allocations and how the funding (s) come from, and the demands they make, how do we balance that, “Hutson said.
Initially, Guyana was due to host the Games in 2021, but this was pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic. As such, the regional meeting for school-age athletes was postponed in 2020, and Bermuda, which was supposed to play host in 2020, was given a 2021 slot.
“It’s a work in progress, but we are very optimistic that we will be ready for it,” Hutson has stated.

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