Annual Sports Day of HMMA

 

Port Macquarie: The Malayalee community in Port Macquarie and Kempsey celebrated their fourth Annual Sports Day on April 7 under the aegis of the Hastings Macleay Malayalee Association.

Hastings Macleay Malayalee Association (HMMA) is a gathering, in Port Macquarie and Kempsey, of Malayalees coming from the lush south-west Indian state of Kerala popularly known as God’s Own Country. Almost all Malayalees in the Hastings Macleay region work in the health and aged care sectors. HMMA has been organising Sports Days since 2014 to promote healthy living among its members and encourage children in the community to play more outdoor sport.

The beautiful natural reserve containing Sancrox Stadium came to life on April 7 filled with gleeful squeals of children and adults alike as everyone partook in a day of sports, fun and laughter.The athletic events included races, push ups and arm wrestling and the games were cricket, football (soccer) and tug of war. To instil a bit of competition, participants were divided into Black and White teams.

The weather gods smiled upon the event, providing a nice sunny day with a cool breeze.The Black team, captained by Clint Mathew, won the overall championships, helped not in some small measure by some champion performances from the ladies. The White team, led by Bittu Baby, won the prestigious men’s events of cricket, football and tug of war.

Rijo Maliyekkal, Neethu Augustine, Jaimie Vinod and Dane Bittu won the Men’s, Women’s, Junior and Sub-junior individual championships respectively. Freya Praveen and Josh Abraham shared the Under 5 Kids individual championship.

HMMA Sports Day organisers would like to thank Sovereign Hills Land Developers, Adenbrook Homes and Mr Varghese  Punnackal (Punnackal Financial Services Pty Ltd)  for providing sponsorships that enhanced the overall quality of the program.

Report : Shijo Thevalakattu Joseph