Eldest Members of Seine Bight Running Club Move on to Sixth Form; Club Organizing Data Sheet to Track Supply Needs, and Splash Holds First Running Camp

By WANDA STAKUTIS Seine Bight Volunteer gregvwandas@gmail.com

Oldest Members of Seine Bight Running Club Move on to Sixth Form; Club Organizing Data Sheet to Track Supply Needs

Ilene Ramirez is attending Independence Junior College (IJC) and majoring in biology with plans to become a high school biology teacher. Rafaine Caliz is also attending IJC and majoring in biology. She aspires to be a forensic doctor. Venisha Cruz is going to Ecumenical Junior College (EJC) and majoring in tourism and business. Wanigie Ogaldez is at the University of Belize (UB)and is majoring in science and statistics. Ronnell Thomas will be attending EJC and majoring in education with the goal of being a primary school teacher. We still hope to see them on Saturday mornings, but due to their busy schedules they may not be with us as often. All, however, say that they will make all the races!

We now have cones for our drills and thanks to Nick and Fiona Betts, we have real batons, a very welcome addition to our supplies that allow us to work more on relays and baton passing skills. Cheryl Watts has compiled a listing including the names of all our members along with their ages, birthdays and t-shirt and shoe sizes. She is also keeping track of when the kids receive shoes and who needs shoes, so that when people ask what they can bring for the kids we can give them exactly what is needed. While we received brand new shoes (Thank you Laura Sen for the donation, and PUMA and Kevin Jones for getting the shoes!) for the older students for the End of the World Marathon in December, shoes for the younger kids are an ongoing need.

Our next goal since we now have the equipment for it, is to develop a sprint and relay training program.

As always everyone is welcome to join us Saturday mornings at 6 a.m. on the field in Seine Bight. You can run with us, help train and coach or simply just cheer on a kid! Many thanks to everyone who continues to suppiort this program. We currently have over 40 students who come out on a regular basis and it seems every week we see a few new faces on the field.▪

Splash Holds First Running Camp

Peninsula children run together in the first Splash Running Camp held in August on the Placencia Village sports field.

KATHY ANGLIN

From Aug. 13 through Aug. 17 on the Placencia Village sports field, Splash Dive Center hosted 30 to 40 kids in the first ever Splash Running Camp. The kids were separated into groups and led in warm ups. Headcoach Kirwin Ramirez took the kids through a series of drills using starting blocks, passing the baton and timed sprints. Each day Kirwin had some games for the kids which taught them running skills in a fun way.

Every day focused on a different skill, including 40- yard sprints, relay, 200-meter and 400-meter sprints. The kids raced on the last day, and the first, second and third place winners were awarded prizes by Patty Ramirez of Splash. Kirwin was helped out by his other coaches Greg Valiton, Zadel, Kenyon, Devin and on the last day, Damone Martinez. (On a side note, Devin, Kenyon and Zadel are all trying to save so they can attend sixth

form which is their dream). Help was also provided from Placencia mothers Megan Rodden, Julia Uren, and Bridgette Kramer whose children participated in the program. Kathy Anglin was there to take pictures every day of the kids out on the field working hard. There was a noticeable difference in the performance from day one to day five of all the participants.

Splash provided water during the camp and in keeping green, gave every student a metal water bottle. At the end of the day fruit was also given to all the participants. Transportation was provided for all the students coming from Seine Bight in the Splash vans.

Everyone involved in the camp from the children to the adult helpers, coaches and support people had a blast. We are looking forward to next year’s camp and hope for even more children to attend. Many thanks to Splash for doing this and to everyone who helped out.▪