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By Samuel Peters
The Antigua and Barbuda Athletic Association has announced its eight-member team for the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) U13 & U15 Championships, scheduled for July 5-6 in Managua, Nicaragua. Head Coach Heather Samuel-Daley revealed that this marks the country’s continued participation in these prestigious youth multi-event competitions.
“We have been participating for a while now,” Samuel-Daley explained. “The last one was 2019, when we had Alyssa Dyer and Ajani Daley were some of the athletes that participated. They did quite well, but we have been always doing well at these events.”
The championships feature age-specific competitions designed to develop well-rounded young athletes. Athletes aged 11-12 will compete in the Pentathlon, consisting of five events: 60m sprint, Long Jump, High Jump, Cricket Ball Throw, and 800m. Competitors aged 13-14 will tackle the more demanding Heptathlon, which includes seven events: 80m sprint, 60m hurdles, Long Jump, High Jump, Cricket Ball Throw, Shot Put, and 1000m.
Representing Antigua and Barbuda in the U13 Pentathlon are girls Aliyah Williams of Power Speed Endurance Club who attends St. John’s Catholic Primary, and Kiarah Simon of Freemansville School. The boys’ team features Gideon Roberts of Power Speed Endurance Club who attends St. John’s Catholic Primary, and Nicquan Webster of Roots Athletics who attends J.T. Ambrose Primary.
In the U15 Heptathlon, the girls will be represented by Marian Whyte of Power Speed Endurance Club who attends Pares Secondary School, and LeAnn Joseph of Wadadli Athletics who attends St. Anthony’s Secondary School. The boys’ representatives are Geron Henry of Power Speed Endurance Club who attends Princess Margaret School, and Chance DeGannes of Wadadli Athletics who attends St. Anthony’s Secondary School.
Asked if there was an advantage for athletes to a member of an athletics club, Samuel-Daley acknowledged that club membership provides advantages, noting, “It does, but obviously you still have to put in the work. All these children, the eight athletes that were selected, and there were quite a bit more that showed quite a bit of promise during the trials.”
The delegation will be led by Head Coach Heather Samuel-Daley, supported by assistant coaches Timon Emanuel and Celisa Maloney. Samuel-Daley explained the necessity of multiple coaches: “Because of the nature of the event, you would have several events going on at the same time. Obviously, one person can’t be in all of the places, and so that is where the other coaches will come in.”
The preparation has been comprehensive, with additional support from coaches including Genesis, Marlon Mack, Oswald Baptiste, and Robin Roberts. “Miss Maloney and Timon have been working with the team from the onset, in terms of even before the trials, they have been working with these athletes,” Samuel-Daley noted.
The head coach revealed current equipment limitations, particularly with hurdles. “The competition hurdles do not have that extra piece of tubing at the base of the hurdles. And so the ones that we have really are just for training purposes,” she explained. Despite this, the athletes have adapted well: “They were able to grasp the concept of hurdling in a short space of time, and did quite well.”
Samuel-Daley expressed interest in incorporating multi-events into local competitions: “It’s a good idea to introduce it on a regular basis at our youth championships, what you call the juvenile championships, because this is the kind of event that they will be participating in.”
However, she acknowledged challenges for interschool implementation: “It’s going to be difficult as well in terms of the Decathlon, because you will need pole vaults and so on. And those are not events that we usually see at our events.”.
The team is scheduled to depart Antigua for Nicaragua tomorrow, July 2nd, allowing adequate time for preparation before competition begins. This represents a significant opportunity for these young athletes to gain international experience and continue Antigua and Barbuda’s tradition of competitive performance at these championships.
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