Athletes get boost ahead of big sporting year |13 March 2015

Eleven athletes have been awarded financial assistance for their training in preparation for the upcoming regional and continental competitions.

The eleven athletes that come from various disciplines were joined by Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga) President Antonio Gopal, the director for sports management and development at the National Sports Council (NSC) Robert Auguste and Socga secretary general Alain Alcindor on Monday evening at the Socga headquarters at Stad Linite to sign the contracts to enable them to receive funding from Socga which will help in their training and preparations for the upcoming regional and continental games.

All the athletes will receive a total of US $7,200 to help fund their training equipment, camps, competitions and training needs ahead of the upcoming Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) in August and the All-Africa Games.

The athletes who will benefit from the funding are Neddy Marie and Leeroy Gamatis from athletics, Juliete Ah-Wan and Steve Malcouzanne from badminton, boxer Keven Kilindo, judoka Francis Labrosse, swimmers Alexus Laird and Felicity Passon, Meggy Gertrude and Allan Julie from sailing and windsurfer Jean-Marc Gardette.

The funds that will be used to assist these athletes will surely be a big boost to their preparation, especially as the country prepares to defend its colours at the 2015 IOIG, which will be held in Reunion and the All-Africa Games which will be held in September in Congo.