11th Indian Ocean Islands Games in Madagascar 2023 |02 August 2023
Minister Zialor and PS Jean-Louis interacting with the basketball coaching staff (Photo: Neil Sirame)
Minister Zialor starts visits of teams ahead of IOIG
Minister Zialor makes a courtesy visit at the training grounds ahead of IOIG to show support.
Youths, Sports and Family Minister Marie-Celine Zialor has visited the training grounds of the male and female 3x3 and 5x5 basketball national teams to show the government’s support to the players as they put the final touches to their preparations ahead of the 11th Indian Ocean Islands Games scheduled for Madagascar from August 23 to September 3.
Accompanied by youth and sports principal secretary Ralph Jean-Louis and National Sports Council chief executive (CEO) Marc Arrisol, yesterday’s visit by the minister focused on how training was going for the women’s and men’s teams and also to reassure them of the full support of the government as the games near.
Speaking to the athletes, Minister Zialor said during her rounds of the different sports venues she will be updating herself on how the preparations of the different disciplines are going on. “I am here to see you all physically and see if you have any concerns to be resolved,” said Minister Zialor.
She praised both the men’s and women’s national selections for training hard and added that she hoped both squads would bring home a medal from the IOIG.
Minister Zialor also emphasised that the players continue to follow their psychosocial mentoring as it is of most important to prepare their mind ahead of the competition.
Some players pointed out concerns about logistics and food, but Minister Zialor reassured them that they have the full support of the ministry and the government and they should not stress themselves on the administrative hurdles and technicalities.
“I would like to say that we are behind you, let us handle these issues and you keep focusing on your training and the games ahead. We need your full concentration to compete in the region,” said Minister Zialor.
She added that she is meeting the managements of different sport disciplines to settle all these issues. To conclude, Minister Zialor mentioned that she senses a nice ambiance among the players and the coaching staff days before they head to Madagascar.
Speaking to Sports NATION, NSC chief executive Marc Arrisol said the visit strongly displayed the government’s support for sports as they were able to personally meet the players on their training grounds.
CEO Arrisol added that all the sportsmen and women have to maintain a high spirit and remain enthusiastic for the games in Madagascar.
He expressed that he feels that Team Seychelles will achieve some good results this year. “We have had many constraints and things were not easy, but this year I am positive that if the team remain focused we can achieve a better result than at the 10th IOIG held in Mauritius back in 2019,” said CEO Arrisol.
Neil Sirame
