BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE organisers of the CARIFTA Games have once again postponed the premier regional meet; this time to August so as to facilitate a number of events including writing of the Caribbean Examination Council Exams.
President of the North America, Central America and Caribbean Association (NACAC), Mike Sands confirmed the postponement during a recently held stakeholders meeting, where the August 13-15 period was ratified.
According to media reports out of Hamilton, Bermuda, with the regional examination body now confirming the June-July period for the sitting of the regional Exams, the changes would now give the organisers a time to have the region’s best junior athletes on show.
It will also provide the organisers in Bermuda with additional time to plan the logistics with the COVID-19 pandemic in mind.
“Our Games were scheduled for July 2 to 4 and, lo and behold, we received official word several days ago that the CXC Exams have been scheduled for June14 to July 16,” the NACAC President was quoted as saying.
It was only earlier this month at the conclusion of the Education Ministers Meeting reporters were told by CXC that the Examinations were pushed back to June 14-July 16, due to the concerns the pandemic posed on students sitting this year.
A determination was made in January to push the Games back to July from its customary Easter Weekend slot to accommodate Bermuda to plan for the staging with the pandemic in mind.
Sands, speaking during a recently held video conference, explained that the announcement by the CXC came in the middle of finalising their plans for the event and would have directly affected a number of athletes who are eligible to compete.
It was against that backdrop the President noted that an emergency meeting was held and the new dates were confirmed.
Speaking with SKNVibes Sports last month, the President of St. Kitts-Nevis Athletics, Delwayne Delaney, welcomed the postponement of the meet to give athletes time to focus more on their studies and then qualify for the Games.
He noted that many of the athletes were not in a condition to make the Games due to the various lockdowns across the region.
Concerns were raised in the Federation as there are currently no scholastic meets on the schedule, and a determination has not yet been made public how the qualifiers will be treated on their return to St. Kitts and Nevis.
“There is no quarantine for the Games but when we return. That is something that we would definitely have to work out,” Delaney said.
Currently, any person travelling into the Federation is subjected to a 14-day mandatory quarantine period which all the athletes would likely face.
