READY, SET

READY, SET
www.grenadainvitational.com

The second Grenada Invitational Track and Field Meet will be held at the Kirani James Athletic Stadium in St George’s, Grenada on Saturday April 21, 2018.

Preparations for this year’s event began immediately following the inaugural event, which was held on April 8, 2017 which involved the participation of more than 100 international athletes in front of a capacity stadium. Grenada’s Kirani James and US Justin Gatlin are expected to participate in the meet.

The organisers are anticipating another successful year with the opportunity for athletes to open their outdoor season on the tropical island of Grenada, experience the Grenadian hospitality while fans witness competitive international track and field.

“The Grenada Invitational is the only one of its kind in the Southern Caribbean, and Grenadians look forward to welcome these international athletes to their shores, once again,” said organiser Michael Bascombe.

At the recent launch of the 2018 event, Sports Minister Anthony Boatswain said that in staging the inaugural event earlier this year, Grenada was able to demonstrate to the world that a small country can make such a major impact in the global arena.

“You’ve established a solid foundation on which we can build a sustainable programme for similar events in the future. As a government, we remain fully committed to the development of our athletes and we do believe that the Invitational could be used as an appropriate medium for the showcasing of our local talent and to inspire our young ones to perform even better,” said Boatswain.

Boatswain said that the Ministry of Sports stands ready to provide the necessary support to the local organisers to ensure that the Invitational in 2018 is another success.

“We also look forward to receiving our friends from Cuba as participants in this very important global undertaking.” Cuba has indicated an interest in sending athletes to participate in the 2018 Grenada Invitational.

The Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA) has also attributed an increased in visitor arrivals last April to the staging of the Grenada Invitational.

“At the Grenada Tourism Authority, we are happy to report that in 2017, during the month of April, we experienced a growth of 20 percent over last year. And of course, one of the major contributing factors is our Grenada Invitational. Breaking it down further, the increases came from the Caribbean region, Canada and the United States,” said Francine Stewart, GTA’s marketing manager.

“The Grenada Invitational has become a permanent place on the GTA’s calendar of events. We’re looking forward to fully supporting and working closely with the Grenada Invitational LOC in making 2018 an even better and bigger year in promoting Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique,” she said.

The Grenada Athletic Association (GAA) said it is prepared to work with the organisers to ensure the success of the Grenada Invitational as an Area Permit Meet (APM).

“This year, with the early move by the Grenada Invitational LOC to start the preparations of the event we (GAA) sanctioned the Grenada Invitational because we see the meet can have a significant impact on the development of athletes, not only in Grenada, but the region,” said Kwame Hypolite, the public relations officer of the GAA.

The Grenada Invitational is also sanctioned by the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) as an APM.