Troumaca Mustangs relishes Whitsuntide Games experience

HEAD COACH OF the Troumaca Mustangs, Wildanrick Samuel is thankful that 11 of the club’s athletes were able to gain some regional experience when they competed at the Whitsuntide Games held at the Kirani James Athletics Stadium in Grenada last Saturday, June 4.

He noted that it was the first time that most of the athletes were competing outside of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), and travelling overseas, hence they relished the opportunity presented to them.

Contesting 15 of the events, Mustangs’ athletes came away with four medals.

Accounting for three of these medals was AJ Delpesche who won the Male Under-17 High Jump, got silver in the 400m and bronze in the 100m.

The other medal, a silver, was pouched by Teia Laborde who was part of the High Performance quartet that placed second in the Female 4 x 100m Open Relay.

Summing up the outing, Samuel stated: “It was a great experience to compete regionally with clubs across the Caribbean region… It is an experience we will always cherish”.

He emphasised that the occasion was well received by the North Leeward community, as they got their first taste of seeing the Mustangs members competing on foreign soil.

“The support from the North Leeward Secondary schools and family and community members was great as well …Many people were watching live and were calling to know when the events were slated, which helped to boost their confidence”, Samuel related.

Buoyed by their maiden trip, Samuel is already

looking forward to the 2023 edition of the Whitsuntide Games.

“Next year we intend to travel with a larger group. This year we received support from parents,family and community members …We are hopeful that businesses in the area can provide support because we usually see students getting opportunities with schools and clubs outside of North Leeward but now we can make it a norm for our athletes”, Samuel concluded.

The Troumaca Mustangs was among five Vincentians Track and Field outfits that were part of the 2022 Whitsuntide Games.

The others were High Performance, X- Cel Track Club, X- Ceed Sports Club and the St Vincent Grammar School Track Team.