In excess of 75 Boys’ and Girls’ School Windball teams converged on the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue, on Thursday afternoon for the launch of the Cheddi and Janet Jagan Memorial Windball tournament’s 11th edition.
While the tournament is set to bowl off in Georgetown at the same venue tomorrow, it will also travel to several other venues in Berbice and Essequibo.
On that note, organiser Allister Munroe hailed the tournament’s growth in recent years, on the back of the National Sports Commission’s (NSC) help.
“Over the years, the Janet and Cheddi Jagan programme was just being played on a small scale, but as organisers, we realise that Georgetown and Demerara are not Guyana. We decided to expand the programme, and last year we had a big opening ceremony right at the gymnasium, and I promised my senior staff that we are prepared to do it again,” Munroe shared.
On a similar train of thought, Director of Sport Steve Ninvalle also chimed in on the competition’s growth whilst announcing an exciting new incentive.
Ninvalle cosigned, “This year, you can see that it has grown, and that is something that I’ve urged the coordinator of these competitions to make sure that every year we have this tournament and that we see an improvement. Now it has reached a stage that only three regions are not here. Those are Regions One, Eight and Nine; it shows that we are developing each year.”
The Director of Sport went on to announce, “Just like the Government of this country, the promises that we make, we keep. Last year we said that we would’ve provided an award for the winning teams to the tune of $400,000. I’m here to say that that promise will be kept and we will make sure that each winning team is awarded that not in cash but in kind, and that shows too that we are pushing for the development of this [tournament].”
The team will compete in their districts, with the winners moving on to the national playoffs, set to be staged in Georgetown.
The Cheddi and Janet Jagan Memorial Windball Tournament is usually hosted in March to coincide with the death anniversaries of the two former Presidents.
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