Southeast Queens Junior Olympics returns

The first Southeast Queens Junior Olympics in 2002 was organized so late that Allan Pope, the event’s president and founder, said they “shoe-stringed” it together. The 2004 event was a step in the right direction. This time around, however, there are fewer questions to be answered, and a better understanding of what needs to be done for the weeklong event that brings the best out of the youth of southeast Queens in both athletics and sportsmanship.
Although The Queens Courier is the lone business to pledge support for the event that will run from August 5-12, the games have already received significant contributions from Assemblyman William Scarborough, Councilman James Sanders and Borough President Helen Marshall, with many more on the way.
The games will be held at Roy Wilkins Park, Campus Magnet High School, York College, Cambria Heights and Laurelton West fields, along with a few other locations that have yet to be determined. The planning committee is hoping the opening of the Olympics, which will once again include a parade with two marching bands, will be attended by Borough President Marshall (she was there in 2004), and possibly Senator Charles Schumer, who missed opening ceremonies in 2004, but attended the games nonetheless.
Baseball, basketball, double-dutch, martial arts, soccer, stepping, swimming, tennis and track & field will be open to all competitors, ages 6-19. The committee has obtained permits for all of the sites except for Roy Wilkins Park, York College and Campus Magnet High School. Assemblyman Scarborough, a member of the planning committee, has sent a letter to York College but has yet to receive a response; the other two sites should definitely work out.
Unlike in the past when the games were an uncertainty, the planners know what’s in store for them this time around. “We have a little more time than the last two years,” Pope said. “We expect an improvement.”
Obviously, there is still a ways to go. They have yet to receive many applications, but each director will bring in kids from their respective leagues, and even some from rival ones. In 2004, when they were further behind in the registration process, the games still received over 2,000 kids. “We’re looking for 3,000 [participants],” Pope said.
A deposit has already been put down on medals and t-shirts, and the games’ organizers have invited several local college coaches to the games, with hopes of a few of their student athletes garnering a scholarship.
For more information on the third bi-annual Southeast Queens Junior Olympics, call Allan Pope at 718-978-2884 or the Cambria Heights Sports Association at 718-525-4494.