Seychelles to host ANOCA Zone 7 Games in May 2024
Sport |Author: Sedrick Nicette Edited By: Betymie Bonnelame | March 23, 2024, Saturday @ 08:45| 7538 views
Beach volleyball will be among the four sporting competitions. (Seychelles Nation)
(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles will host the upcoming Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) Zone 7 games from May 6 to 11.
For the first time, the game will include four sporting disciplines unlike in the past when both Mauritius and Seychelles held competition in a single sport for the ANOCA Zone 7 countries.
"As Seychellois Antonio Gopal is the current president of the ANOCA Zone 7, we decided to have the games here in a meeting in Cairo last year," said the secretary general of the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (SOCGA), Alain Alcindor.
ANOCA is an international organisation that unites the 54 National Olympic Committees of Africa and is currently headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria.
The Zone 7 represents the collective National Olympic Committees of Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros, Djibouti, and Seychelles.
Dedicated to advancing the Olympic movement and enhancing sports development in the region, ANOCA Zone 7 plays a vital role in promoting unity and excellence through sport.
Alcindor said that the International Olympic Committee (IOC), encourages each zone to host activities during their presidency and that is why Seychelles has decided to host the games. The four sports that will feature in the event are swimming, basketball (3×3), beach volleyball, and table tennis.
"Originally, we wanted to have swimming, table tennis, and athletics since last year, but that was delayed as we awaited for the track and field facilities to be fixed. Since that has not happened, we decided to replace athletics with 3x3 basketball and beach volleyball," explained Alcindor.
The games are reserved for athletes under the age of 18 and are on a smaller scale than the popular CJSOI Games, also known as the Indian Ocean Games.
In all, each delegation is expected to have 32 delegates, including each country's president of their NOC, who, while in Seychelles, will also attend the ANOCA Zone 7 meeting.
The event is not set to be done regularly, as each country that takes over the presidency can decide what activities they want to do.