Deep South August Games – bringing people together through sport

Staging of the Deep South August Games, started in 1997 by former Aishalton Toshao Tony James and former Morarunau educator Adrian Gomes — two individuals with a love for sport and a vision of bringing people together — is said to be the most anticipated event of the year in communities south of the Rupununi in Region Nine.
Morarunau Toshao Patrick Gomes, in an exclusive interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI), said the games were birthed to replicate the annual Mass Games which were held in Georgetown in the 1980s and 1990s, and the idea was to have students and teachers involved in the activity. This is one of the main reasons that the games are held in August.
A meeting was subsequently held among villagers of Awarewanau, Maruranau, Shea, Aishalton, Karadunau and Auchiwib to have the games hosted in the Rupununi. Parabara and Masakinari later joined the event.
To get the initiative in motion, Gomes said, a meeting was held among the villages, and after consultations and the sharing of ideas, “it was agreed that there needed to be a social event that (would) bring people together”.
The games were first held in Maruranau, and in the years that followed, different villages would be selected to host the games. The village council of the host community would have to ensure that there is a proper venue for the games to be held, and sufficient accommodation for persons coming from far distances.
“Every village took part; they came walking, on bicycles, bull carts and horses. That time they had no tractor or (other) means of transportation,” Gomes explained. This meant that, depending on where the games were being hosted, participants sometimes took three to four days to reach their destination.
Cricket, football and volleyball were the very first events featured; but, as time went by, traditional activities such as archery with traditional arrows and bows, cotton spinning, basket weaving, cassava grating and cari drinking were added to the list. They eventually followed the addition of cultural events and a pageant.
According to Gomes, the games have grown enormously since initiation 20 years ago, and now attract thousands of athletes and spectators. “It has grown in strength. It has grown from then to now tremendously… it looks like what I would say (is) an international event, where you have like, a mini Olympics. You have parades, march past, a formal opening, and speeches” he explained.
The games were held this year in Awarewanau, some seven hours’ overland travel from Lethem. One of the coordinators of the event, Aishalton representative Patrick Da Silva, also said the level of competition has risen significantly from what had obtained in previous years.
“Since they have started,” he said, “the level of cricket, football, and volleyball (has) risen in all the villages, because they have (become) highly competitive games,” Da Silva explained.
Thomas Perry, a spectator, agreed. “To me, it is better than before, because of the lights in the nights. This is the first time it happen in our villages like this,” he explained.
While some persons have camped out at the venue, others chose to travel back and forth daily. However, the journey is certainly not one for the swift, as Perry can testify.
“I am coming to support my village, (located) 10 miles from here. I am from Maruranau, and I does go back like 8 or 10 o’clock (at night), depends when they finish. And in the morning, I does come back again, with my family, to enjoy myself here.”
Aside from the athletes and spectators, the games have, over the years, attracted a number of traders from across the country. These traders come from as far as East Berbice, Region Six and the Essequibo Coast, Region Two.
Gharbarnan Sookraj, from the Essequibo Coast, has said he has been attending the event for the past nine years. The trip takes him and his family between three days and a week to be completed, depending on where the games are being hosted.
Sookraj explained: “(I) came to Rodeo one time, then I came another time on business in Lethem, and they had heritage; so we do a little sale by the benab, and I decided to buy a truck. Well, I had the goods, so I decided to come here”.
The games continue to attract persons from the coast, like Totaram Gunpat from Berbice, who attended the games for the first time to trade. He had heard about the games through word of mouth.
Gunpat said “I heard about it in Lethem; the boys told me, and ‘them man’ bring me up here…” Gunpat said that of all the competitions, he really enjoyed the volleyball games. He was also keen to point out that he would be returning for the games next year.