Southern Games Back On March 22nd
San Fernando is gearing up for one of the longest-running sporting traditions in South Trinidad.
The 2026 Southern Games takes place this Sunday, March 22nd, at the recently refurbished Ian Atherly Cycle Track at Skinner Park, with athletics heats getting underway a day earlier on Saturday morning.
Held under the patronage of San Fernando Mayor Robert Parris, the event features a total of 62 competitions, bringing together some of Trinidad and Tobago’s top athletes and cyclists on the same programme.
That combination of cycling and track and field on a single card remains the signature hallmark of the Southern Games.
Mayor Parris spoke passionately about the event’s legacy, saying, « The Southern Games is really, really something that my mother and father told me that was huge. Mummy said that you didn’t have to advertise the Southern Games long time. She said all of us used to be in it. »
This year, two sporting legends will be honoured: Olympic cyclist Leslie ‘Fast Legs’ Rawlins, who carried the national flag at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, and former national quarter-miler Alvin Daniel, a multi-Games competitor whose career spanned the Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games, and World Championships.
The Mayor extended an open invitation to the nation, stating: « This weekend, San Fernando is the place to be, and I invite Trinidad and Tobago to join us in continuing this tradition. »
Admission is $60 for adults, $20 for children under 14, and free for children under five.
