BVIAA Vice President, Steve Augustine and General Secretary, Delva Thomas, put on another great Youth Summer Camp, in the First District, which concludes tomorrow Sunday with a Mini Track Meet on Capoons Bay at 5pm. Photo: Charlie E. Jackson/VINO

Karene King, recently back from competing at the Commonwealth Games, will be giving a motivational speech to the youngsters in the hopes of inspiring the next generation to follow their dreams and be Track Stars. Photo: Provided

The Camp, sponsored by the Hon. Andrew A. Fahie (R1), began back on August 9, 2014 and around 40 children have been learning some new skills using modified and safe equipment like soft javelins, cushioned hurdles, discus, shot put and relay batons, the youngsters got to take their raw skill and have it molded into proper technique.

The camp also taught them new skills in leadership, training drills; warm ups and opened their eyes to opportunities and trying new things.

BVIAA Vice President Steve Augustine, who along with BVIAA Gen. Secretary, Delva Thomas organized the event noted that the camp was also about building capacity for the BVIAA, discovering new talent and making sure that discovery was nurtured into proper pathways for track and field development.

“Definitely it was a fun filled week. The kids who were here, if you speak with them, you’ll get the same response. They definitely had a really good time. All the children were keen, but anxious, to learn new skills under the IAAF’s programme which is the same starting point given to youngsters across the world, including traditional powerhouses like Great Britain, United States of America (USA) and Jamaica.”

At the Mini Track Meet on Sunday, which Augustine hopes will be well attended by not only family and friends, but also the First District Community, the youngsters will be showing off their skills over sprints, hurdles, obstacle courses and of course some hotly contested relays, including 4 x 100 and 4 x 400.

There will also be a parents and organizers combination event as well as a motivational moment, when Sprinter Karene King talks to the youths about her experiences in Track.

Entrance to Capoons Bay on Sunday for the Track Meet, which starts at 5pm, is just $3.

“We are all about participation from the youngest to the oldest,” noted Augustine. “The camp was a great success. We have discovered some great talent; in fact we have more than unearthed some new talent. We have some great talent down in the West End area. I could go on and on about the talent we have discovered and seen. We will work with them again and perhaps get them down to the track in town.

The parents of the children who participated in the camp were also amazed and extremely happy with what they had seen over the previous two weeks of camp.