National championships in jeopardy
Clydeen Mc Donald
Published: 17 Jun 2009
Workmen on the job at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, yesterday.
PHOTOS: CLYDEEN MC DONALD
Clydeen Mc Donald
T&T’s National Track and Field Championships are in jeopardy as there is a race against time to have the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo ready for action. The venue was supposed to be handed over the National Amateur Athletics Association (NAAA) today for the event, which is an official test of the venue’s readiness for the inaugural Caribbean Games in July.
However, a visit to the local sporting mecca yesterday revealed that work is still being done. Workmen could be seen replacing broken chairs under the covered stand which seats 6,000 spectators. While repairs were taking placing on the mono-track which was visibly damaged.
The repairs being done to the mondo track are of special concern to members of the local track and field fraternity, as the championships are mandatory for all of T&T’s junior and senior athletes, who wish to represent this country at any of the forthcoming international competitions, including the 12th World Championships in Germany in August. Because of this stipulation many of this country’s collegiate and professional athletes are expected to return home in the coming days to compete.
However, sources which preferred to remain unnamed questioned whether local and foreign athletes would have a place to compete, or if they will risk injury by running on a damaged track. One source said: “At this point we can’t be sure that this weekend’s Championships will come off. There are serious concerns in terms of seating arrangements for spectators as well as the state of the track.”
The Hasely Crawford Stadium hosted two major events for the carnival season in 2009, the Soca Monarch Finals on February 20th and Alternative Concept 7 on February 16. Another source is attributing the damages to these events: “I know that there was talk after the carnival season to have the mono relayed because it had suffer some damage. But this was not done because of the cost and the time between the relaying and the rectification which would have to be done afterwards.”
When contacted for comment on the readiness of the stadium for this weekend’s championships, president of the NAAA Ephraim Serrette and organisation PRO Peter Samuel referred questions to the offices of the SPORTT Company and the Local Organising Committee both of which have the responsibility for the venue. However, calls to the cell phone of Francis William-Smith the CEO of the Caribbean Games went unanswered while no one from the SPORTT Company was available to make an official statement.
So far four venues for the Caribbean Games have been completed they are - the netball courts at the Jean Pierre Complex, the tennis courts at Shaw Park in Tobago and the volleyball facilities at the University of the West Indies Sport and Physical Education Centre and at Saith Park in Chaguanas. In addition to the Hasely Crawford Stadium work is also being done on the Indoor Gymnasium at the Jean Pierre Complex and the Woodbrook Youth Facility which will host Boxing.
