30th annual Inter-School Athletics Championships-Praslin , SHTTC retain cups |16 June 2006

ANSE AUX PINS Primary relinquished its crown last year but the 30th edition of the annual Inter-School Athletics Championships presented the school with the opportunity to reclaim what had been in its possession for the six previous years.

Held at Stad Linite on Wednesday June 14 instead of the usual June 29 date, the championships, organised under the national theme “Celebrate Seychelles”, also saw Praslin Secondary (secondary category) and Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Training Centre (post-secondary category) retain their titles.

Speaking before the start of the competition, Education and Youth Minister Danny Faure said that the occasion was “special because we are celebrating three decades of progress in physical education and sports in our country.”

He added that “the championships are a way of celebrating all the achievements in Seychelles’ athletics and sports in general.”

With two cups in the girls under 8 and under 12 years old categories and a total of 100 points, Anse Aux Pins reclaimed the primary category title it had lost to Anse Royale last year, bringing its number of wins to seven in eight years after past triumphs in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Speaking to Sports Nation at the end of the championships, physical education instructor Luther Roseline said:
“It is true when people say that hard work is always rewarded. After losing the title last year we had to double our efforts in training. The children trained early morning and in the afternoon. We even spent R12,000 on transport and equipment.  In the end it was worth the hard work and wise spending.”

Praslin Secondary has made it three wins in a row after becoming secondary category champion for the first time in 2004.

Having succeeded three-time winner Anse Boileau (2001, 2002 and 2003), Praslin Secondary has matched the West Mahe school’s achievements with 354 points.
PE instructor Jenny Bresson said:
“That’s not bad at all. Our training was geared at getting the athletes ready for the finals. After that, everything depended on them and they responded in style.”

Like Praslin Secondary, Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Training Centre (SHTTC) also retained its post-secondary title, becoming the first post-secondary institution in four years to win the open category more than once.

The last institution to achieve the feat was Industrial Training Centre (now Seychelles Institute of Technology) and it happened in 2001 and 2002.
SHTTC garnered 118 points, two more than runner-up School of A’Level Studies (SALS) at the end of the championships.

Anse Royale Secondary School was the only one able to retain the President’s Fair Play Cup for secondary competitors.

The Fair Play Cup for primary competitors went to La Digue, while the National Institute of Education (NIE) won that for the post-secondary category after scoring two points more than SHTTC who accumulated 153 points.

President James Michel himself presented the Fair Play cups, while the other cups were given out by Vice-President Joseph Belmont, Education and Youth Minister Danny Faure and former Namibian sprinter Frankie Fredericks, the championships’ guest of honour.

It must be noted that no Fair Play cups were awarded for spectators this year.

President Michel also presented the first medals awarded on the day and these went to Richard de Létourdie (SIT, gold medal), Hervé Adrienne (Maritime Training Centre, silver medal) and Yuri Marie (SHTTC, bronze medal) in the boys 1,500 metres open category.

The championships, which saw 21 records beaten and one equalised, were also attended by former President Albert Rene, ministers, invited guests, parents, teachers and schoolchildren.

New to the championships this year was the lighting of the flame by former sprinter France Tamboo, now a pilot with Air Seychelles.  He was accompanied by five Plaisance Primary School students.

In the march past, athletes who performed well in past editions of the championships joined the participants and they all lined up on the field instead of on the track as has been the case over the past years.

Record breakers received a trophy on top of their medals and their schools received two bonus points.

The best overall schools also got shields which they will keep and the floating cups.

The category winners were La Digue (girls under 8 cup with 21 points, girls under 14 with 53 points), Baie Ste Anne Praslin (boys under 8 with 23 points), Plaisance (girls under 10 with 26 points and boys under 10 with 38 points), Anse Aux Pins (girls under 12 with 24 points), Takamaka (boys under 12 with 36 points), Praslin Secondary (boys under 14 with 52 points, girls under 16 with 73 points, boys under 16 with 82 points and boys under 18 with 55 points), Anse Royale (girls under 18 with 77 points), SHTTC (girls open category with 59 points) and SIT (boys open category with 69 points).