Seychelles’ performance at the 11thIOIG: ‘Great results require great preparation’ |29 August 2023
With three days since the opening of the 11th Indian Ocean Islands Games, Seychelles had a slow start and we mostly won silver and bronze medals until our two swimmers Felicity Passon and Simon Bachmann won the first gold medals in the 200m individual medley.
It is a fact that Seychellois people remain skeptical about these games but are hopeful for more gold medals. Sports NATION sought out public opinion on the performance of the athletes who are competing across 15 sport disciplines in the IOIG.
How do you rate Team Seychelles’ performance in the IOIG?
Didier Dugasse – Head coach of the elite volleyball club Premium Spikers
“For volleyball both the men’s and women’s teams have been performing quite well even though they played against teams with little resistance. Moving forward in the games their might will be tested and for the other disciplines it will depend on the players themselves if they want to push further into the final stages of the IOIG. I can see all the teams are willing and motivated to reach the podium even though it is difficult but nothing is impossible.”
Mervin Bonnelame – Physical educator at Ile Perseverance secondary school
“There are some missing elements in the performance of the Seychelles delegation at the games. Watching the athletes I can see that some teams’ morale is down and little effort is being applied when competing. I applaud all of our Seychellois athletes who are giving their best at the games and they should not be ashamed if our opponents are better than us, indicating the improvement needed nationally. I believe that Seychelles was not ready to participate in the IOIG given the short period of time for preparation. We should have focused on molding the youths to grow into successful athletes rather than placing high expectations on them in securing gold medals across all disciplines. We are not ready to win gold medals. There is a long way to go for that achievement, especially in team sports. We still have medal contenders in sports like weightlifting, boxing, swimming and volleyball.
“Youth development across most sports discipline in Seychelles is being taken too lightly as we are aiming to compete at the highest level. For great results there has to be great preparation. The authorities and federations must lay down a strong foundation of development programmes to influence and identify more youths. This way we will have more prolific athletes to bring home gold medals.”
Dorothy Isidore – chairman of the Netball Association
“I am rooting for Team Seychelles but expected the poor performance at the games in Madagascar. Following the last IOIG there should have been a panel who would have reviewed what we did wrong so we could have headed into this one on solid grounds. We should have emphasised on talent identification and grooming the young athletes since the last IOIG. We did not prepare well enough heading to Madagascar. Poor preparation results in poor performance although I am positive the athletes are giving their all and from my perspective they were not prepared enough to compete in the games as the majority of the athletes are making their debut in these Games. Despite that, we still need to encourage our athletes and remain high spirited for them and help them to remain focus in their chase for gold medals.”
Terrence Tirant
“I also believe that preparation and youth development began too late. Most of the individual sports are performing better than team sports and I have high hopes that overall Seychelles will finish in the top four. I am confident that Seychelles will gain medals and we should be concerned on the quality of athletes we have participating in the IOIG. The lack of good results is due to the absence of youth development. Athletes have to learn the basics.”
Erica Celeste, works with handisports athletes
“I am proud of the performance of the handisport delegation and I praise them. I wait to see their other results. The handisport athletes followed a good preparation for the IOIG and I am sure we are going to see more positive results. In general, I praise the whole Team Seychelles for competing at the IOIG because for me they are not doing so bad and I wish them good luck in their quest for gold medals.”
Compiled by Neil Sirame