Another ‘Day of Interaction’ held at Uitvlugt

Oct 24, 2008 Sports

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The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport / National Sport Commission in collaboration with the Regional Democratic Council of Region #3 successfully hosted a Day of Interaction on Sunday October 19 at the Uitvlugt Community Centre Ground on the West Coast Demerara.
This event was the second in a series of interactive community sessions planned and organized by the National Sports Commission. The event attracted hundreds of participants from West Demerara and East Bank Essequibo with participants coming from villages such as Wales, Pouderoyen, Crane, Anna Catherina and Parika to name a few.
The activity, held under the theme ‘Unity through Sports’ was part of the National Sports Commission’s programme to actively engage communities across the country to highlight the importance of exercise and a healthy lifestyle, to promote a spirit of peace, unity and cooperation among communities and to encourage communities to make use of the many grounds, fields and other sport facilities available to them.
On hand for the event were Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony, Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, Director of Sports Mr Neil Kumar, and Regional Vice Chairman Region #3 Mr Manpersaud along with UNICEF Country Representative Johannes Wedenig.
Mr Johannes Wedenig distributed trophies to the winners of the Volleyball event and stated that although they had won their events that all participants at the day’s activities were winners.
Opening the event were Dr Anthony and Dr Ramsammy who were in unison for the community to utilize sport as a means of promoting a healthy lifestyle. Dr Ramsammy emphasized the need for citizens to adopt healthy lifestyle changes so as to continue to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS in Guyana. Dr Anthony chose to focus on the unifying nature of sports and stated that sport is a tool which can help in dismantling prejudices and perceived differences in society. Both Ministers welcomed the hundreds of participants and called on them to interact with each other and have fun.
Several disciplines were contested and the following are the results:
CYCLING:
In a keenly contested event, Kester Freeman emerge the winner followed by Jermaine Boyce and Derwin Chase in second and third place respectively.
FOOTBALL:
With twelve teams competing in this event played in a miniature five-a-side format, the competition saw Wales vs. Crane ‘A’ in the final. Crane ‘A’ emerged the winner beating Wales 2-1.
SOFTBALL CRICKET:
Softball cricket was competed in three categories: males, females and juniors. The final of the male category saw Parika defeating Canal No. 1. In the female category, Crane got the better of Farm, while Goed Fortuin defeated Crane in the Junior category.
VOLLEYBALL:
Goed Fortuin outscored Anna Catherina in the finals of the Senior and Junior categories to emerge winners in both. The players were very competitive with the juniors demonstrating good ball control and skills. It was noted that their attitude and interest in the game augers well for the future.
DOMINOES: Farm came out on top in dominoes with a winning total of 78 games, followed by West Demerara Regional Hospital with 69 games and Anna Catherina Tigers with 67 games.
TABLE TENNIS: In the first competitive table tennis competition in this series of community Interaction, Sahadeo Ramkeraat of Uitvlugt defeated A. Sobers of Crane in the final. Cheng Jainhua, the Chinese coach recruited by the National Sports Commission, continue to conduct programmes across the country with beginners and is giving very valuable assistance to the development of young talent across Guyana. Many players expressed their satisfaction for the expert advice they would have received from the coach.
CIRCLE TENNIS:
In another first for this series of events, Crane defeated Bagotsville in the final of the Circle Tennis competition.
In closing remarks, Minister Anthony, Director of Sports Mr Kumar and regional Vice Chairman of Region #3 Mr Manpersaud all urged participants to embrace positive attitudes and lifestyles and to continue the promotion of peace and unity within our communities. Dr. Anthony called on the Regional Administration to make sure that the Regional Sports Committee functions and pleaded with them to have quarterly Days of Sports in various areas across the region.
The Sports Minister pledged his Ministry’s unwavering support to the Region’s efforts to promote personal development through sports and announced that a Regional Sports Organizer will be appointed to assist in this regard.
The next Day of Interaction is scheduled for November 2 on the East Bank of Demerara.

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