The SOA committee. Front  row, from left to right: Hoareau (secretary general), Adam (president), Wirtz (member) Roberts (treasurer). Back row in the same order: Pillay (member), Gopal (honorary president), Nioze (member), Alcindor (facilitator). Rose (vice-president) is missing from the photo

A number of Seychelles' great  athletes of yesteryears are back in action.

They include boxer Michael Pillay, athletes Denis Rose and Marie-Ange Wirtz (Woodcock) who are back in action alongside younger performers such as swimmers Jean-Paul Adam, Ivan Roberts and athletes Joanna Hoareau and Paul Nioze.

However, they will not be competing on the track, in the swimming pool or the boxing ring, but have joined together to spearhead the spread of the values of the Olympic movement in Seychelles.

They are the founding members of the Seychelles Olympians Association formed recently to regroup all past and present Olympians so that together as one body they can act for the furtherance of the Olympic ideals in Seychelles.

The Seychelles Olympians Association (SOA) has the Seychelles National Olympic Committee (Snoc) president, Antonio Gopal, as honorary president.

Jean-Paul Adam is the president, Denis Rose vice-president, Joanna Hoareau secretary general and Ivan Roberts treasurer.

The other members are Marie-Ange Wirtz (Woodcock), Paul Nioze and Mike Pillay.

Snoc member Alain Alcindor, who before the setting up of the committee has been Seychelles' main contact with the World Olympian Association, is helping the SOA on its feet.

In fact he has been the driving force in the setting up of the association after several attempts made in the past  had failed.

He made the setting up of the association his duty after attending the World Olympians Association (WOA) seminar in Senegal in September last year.

The SOA is a member of the WOA which elected its third general assembly in Lausanne, Switzerland, a few months ago. It was Jean-Paul Adam, in his capacity as president of the SOA who represented the local association at the meeting.

The SOA's first task is to produce a database of  all of the country's Olympians with their contacts and personal details and invite those who would like to be "active" members of the association to come forward to take part in the activities to be organised.

"It is very important to have such an association, SOA president Adam told Seychelles Nation.

"Very often athletes represent their country at the Olympic Games during their heyday and when they become older they are completely forgotten," said Adam.

"Keeping track of them is in itself a form of recognition and the fact they will be able to participate in the activities we organise means that they will always be visible in the eyes of the public and particularly the younger generation."

The SOA will start participating in Olympic related activities soon.