DAVID SCARLETT

THE president of the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA), George Commissiong, has said last weekend's NAAA National Juvenile Championships went to plan, in terms of the athletic display by the young athletes.

In an interview with Newsday on Monday, Commissiong said, 'It was most definitely a success. We hosted 259 athletes across a wide range of events on the two days of competition,

'This is an important group for us. They represent the future of the sport, and the Juvenile Championship is a key element in their development. For many of them, it is their first real taste of top-class competition.'

The NAAA boss lamented the low spectator attendance at the Juvenile Championships, but said it has traditionally been more of a family event, with relatives cheering on their family members.

'Some people find competition among the young ones not as attractive as that of their more mature counterparts,' he said. 'Others differ and find watching them even more entertaining. What they sometimes lack is technique, they compensate with enthusiasm.'

The only flaw in the weekend's proceedings, Commissiong felt, was that the medals which were ordered for the podium athletes were not received in time for the event.

He apologised, saying, 'We usually present medals at all of our championships. To be in a position where we were unable to do so is not customary.'

After the two-year break owing to covid19, 'We were trying to do something special for the athletes, to give them something different,' he said. 'The situation was somewhat embarrassing and we have apologised. We do believe that the athletes understood our difficulty. We are making arrangements to present the medals at a later date.' The next scheduled NAAA event is the National Open Championships carded for June 24.

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