The Allied Arts Unit of the Ministry of Education combined forces with the Guyana Golf Federation and the Nexgen Golf Academy during the pandemic to create history this year, with 114 learners from President’s College, Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary, and Rosignol, Friendship, and Wisburg Secondary schools deciding to take golf as their PE elective.
Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary (ARMS), having placed second in the National Golf School Competition in 2021, delivered on their potential to become the number one golf school in the country by leading the nation in CSEC golf with 51 students opting for golf.
Rosignol Secondary was second with 38. According to Rosignol’s PE teacher Kevon Jawahir, “The entire class wanted to do golf, and we travelled several times to the Nexgen Golf Academy to practice. All my students were hooked on the game after the first session.”
Golf has traditionally not been a popular sport among the general public, because it has been viewed as an ‘elite’ sport, with high fees and the need to join a private club to play. This perception was radically changed when the GGF and Nexgen Golf Academy, at the urging of Assistant Director of Sport Melissa Dow-Richardson in 2020, created a programme in conjunction with the MoE’s Allied Arts Unit to allow access to the sport by anyone who had an interest.
The programme, which came at a welcome time, when virtually all sporting activities had ceased due to COVID-19, was quickly adopted by Ms. Barker-King, head of the MoE’s Allied Arts Unit, and became one of the fastest growing sports, with secondary schools in all but three regions now active in teaching golf to their 11th and 12th grade learners.
The model public/private partnership saw Nexgen Golf Academy providing training, equipment and facilities, and the MoE providing PE Teachers and resources for the ‘Train the Trainer’ programme, which allowed the sport to reach into 102 secondary schools in just 15 months.
“It’s a great relationship that draws on the strength of each other, the equipment and knowledge provided, and the Human Resources to develop the sport, provided by the Ministry of Education,” said Ms. Barker-King, head of the Allied Arts Unit. “We expect that golf will be introduced to our primary school learners in July, and expanded to Grades 7-12 in the secondary schools.”
Once these plans are realised, golf would be placed as one of the most involved sports, with over 35,000 learners having access to the sport, and the demand for golf-friendly playgrounds across the country would increase drastically.
The Guyana Government, through the efforts of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, has demonstrated its commitment to development of sports in the country, and plans are in place for inclusion of a golf course in the Silica City project.
However, with the rapidly increasing popularity of the game among locals and expats, it would be expected that many more golf course communities would have to be built to accommodate the demand.
For more information on how you can learn the game or sharpen your skills therein, contact the Nexgen Golf Academy via Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp on 645-0944, or visit them at the Scouts Association Ground on Woolford Avenue in Georgetown.
