The Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) has completed its calendar of events for 2011 that starts on January 16 with the annual National Cross Country Championships set for Kuru Kuru on the Linden Highway.
Events have been scheduled until October and come to a total of 32.
However, AAG President Colin Boyce told Stabroek Sport on Monday that a few more events may be added to the calendar as the year progresses.
This new calendar features the addition of another developmental meet to the three that were held last year. The first is scheduled for January 30, and is expected to be held at the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground, Linden. The other three will be held on the first three Sundays in February; with the first set to take place at the Police Sports Club Ground, Eve Leary; the third at the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Ground and the fourth at the Enmore Ground, East Coast of Demerara. The South American Cross Country Championships in Columbia is also set for February 20.
On March 5, the NACAC Cross Country Championships will be held in Trinidad and Tobago. This will be followed by the National Youth and Junior Championships, which will be held early next year after being held in September this year.
Trials for the Inter-Guiana Games will follow on March 18, followed by an inaugural event to the calendar, the Roxanna Rigby Memorial. Rigby died at age 18 in January.
On April 10, the second staging of the annual inter-club National Under-23 Championships will be held at the Police Sports Club Ground.
This will be followed by the regional CARIFTA Games set for April 23-25 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Locally, the National Senior Championships are set for April 30 at GDF Ground. Last year this event was held in conjunction with the Youth and Junior Championships.
Four events are scheduled for May including the President/Jefford Games, which has so far proved to be the most lucrative inter-club athletics meet in Guyana, having a $300, 000 first prize at it’s inaugural event this year. In addition, the South American Senior Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina are set for June 2 – 5. It is the only event scheduled for June, so far.
Six events are set for July: the Central America and the Caribbean (CAC) Age Group Championships (July 1 – 2), the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Youth Championships (July 6 – 10), the CAC Senior Championships (July 15 – 17), the South American Junior Championships (July 16 – 17), and the Pan American Junior Championships (July 22 – 24). The single local event is the GDF Inter Unit Championships set for July 19 – 22 at the GDF Ground.
Both September and August have two events each, one local and one overseas. The IAAF World Athletics Championships are set for August 26 and the Commonwealth Youth Games from September 7 – 11. In October four events have been scheduled, including the Pan American Games set for Guadalajara, Mexico from October 23 – 30.
Boyce told this newspaper that certain overseas meets on the calendar will take precedence over others as an AAG representative must attend in order to remain in good standing with the world governing body the IAAF. This is critical as it ensures that the association can access the grant from the IAAF.
