The Micoud Community Relations Branch of the Royal St Lucia Police Force Pacesetters Athletics Club, at a ceremony held at Coconut Bay Resort, on Thursday 17th February, 2011, received a much needed sponsorship of fifty (50) sets of running uniforms and 30 track suits.
In expressing gratitude for this sponsorship, at the Independence Games held at George Odlum Stadium, on Sunday 27th February, 2011, the young athletes clad in black and yellow were drenched with enthusiasm, as they emerged victorious at their first outing for 2011, when they captured 12 gold medals, 22 silver medals, 10 bronze medals.
The athletes moved with class and dignity being the only team with a complete track suit in the competition for every athlete. Truly, they looked like a national team, behaved in a dignified manner and performed much to the expectation of their coach, Officer 424 Charlemagne and sponsor, Coconut Bay Resort.
According to the coach, this club was formed in 1997 as part of a community policing strategy to provide a positive alternative to the youth of the south to engage in meaningful after-school training programme. It is also a means of enforcing discipline and develops character and harness talents that would be developed for international competition.
To date the Club boast of dominating the 2010 Track and Field competition when they captured 27 medals at the 2010 First National Under 13 Games, 14 medals at the National Juniors, 16 medals at the National Event.
They also took home the most prestigious title for the St Lucia Athletics Association, The Club Relay Championship Trophy by a margin of 170 points notwithstanding this was their first time in this competition; a trophy which was held by Survivors for an extended period.
Pacesetters Athletics Club has 10 athletes who have represented St. Lucia at the Carifta Games and Caribbean Union Teachers Games to date and is working assiduously to live up to their dream of giving St. Lucia its first ever sprint gold medal at the 2012/2013 Carifta Games.
The management of Coconut Bay Resort is quite pleased with the performance of the team so far and has expressed a desire to see some athletes participate in competitions outside of the region, in order to enable them to improve their ability in competing against world-class competitors.
Two of Pacesetters athletes remain undefeated in 2010/2011, being double gold medalist in two events. They are: Joel Jules who is the 100m and 200m champion in the men’s division and he is also an employee of Coconut Bay Resort and a 14-year-old athlete, Samara Edwin is St Lucia’s finest and best, in the 800m and 1500m events.
Pacesetters Club comprises athletes from every Primary and Secondary Schools in the south; from Piaye to Micoud. To date, Pacesetters athletes have triumphantly become victors at every inter-house school sports meet.
Pacesetters is living up to their name as they set the stage for other clubs to follow, though they do not receive much media coverage by Sports Journalists, they however continued in a high spirit and children at schools island wide are flocking in to register to become members.
They will be participating in the National Junior Championship in March, 2011 to seek to qualify some of its members at the 2011 Carifta Games in Jamaica.
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