It was a momentous occasion for sport in Guyana on Saturday morning, when the country’s first ever sport conference was launched and hosted. While the various Associations came together to discuss all things sport, it was simultaneously announced that Guyana’s Sport Academy would commence soon.
In ceremonious fashion, Prime Minister Brigadier (ret/d) Mark Phillips declared the event open at the National Cultural Centre, where panel discussions on responsibilities, nurturing talent, revenue, sponsorship, media, tournaments, elite training and international competition were on the agenda.
Prime Minister Brigadier (ret/d) Mark Phillips
The Prime Minister, in his remarks, underscored the importance of the new venture, noting that it would lend to Guyana’s social development.
“This is a new initiative, as you heard from the Minister, by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the National Sports Commission on behalf of the Government of Guyana, and we believe that it is an important one in contributing to the social development of our citizens,” Phillips shared in his remarks.
The Prime Minister added, “Today’s activities will focus on three main areas surrounding the design of Guyana’s first Sports Academy: how we can increase inter-association collaboration, and ways in which we can improve systems pertaining to sports administration, and governance. Discussing these critical areas are important elements of our sport sector.”
Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr making his presentation at the inaugural sport conference
In giving a charge to the members of Guyana’s various associations and federations present at the Sport Conference, Culture, Youth and Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr. advised the associations on how to measure their success.
“The process of your measurement of success is not only about your transparency and accountability, which is something that is important to the Ministry. But it also is measured by how much talent you develop, how well your team does, what is the success of your team. The more successful your team is, the more successful the number of players you’re able to produce; that’s a measure of your success as an administrator for your respective sport,” Ramson noted.
Sport Academy coming soon
Meanwhile, prior to those discussions, Culture, Youth and Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr. disclosed the template in which the National Sports Academy would be run. He divulged that the National Sports Commission would oversee the Academy, which is expected to be launched in a matter of weeks.
In detailing the three pillars of the Academy, the Sport Minister added that the relevant stakeholder would be providing gear, facilities, coaches/teachers and implementing a programme for the Academy
The NSC is going to provide the sports organizers and coaches, the Ministry and the NSC is going to provide the facilities, meaning the venues, the gear, a lot of the equipment that’s needed. And then finally, the National Sports Commission and the Sports Associations would design and implement a programme. “All of the core sports have to have this nursery,” he said.
About the three pillars of the Academy, Ramson revealed, “The nursery focuses on getting younger people into the programme, so that we can start to get young people active again, start to increase the pool of talent than to replenish the overall system of talent.
“The second pillar is based on tournaments. The tournament is where the National Sports Commission, with funding from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, provides at least $12 million for the 12 core sports to be able to access every single year to run tournaments.
“There are some sports that will require more funding. More funding will become available for that sport, but any tournament for the core sports that is run with the National Sports Commission, you can know when you’re planning every year that $12 million at least $1 million for each of the core sports is available for you to tap into.
“The final stage of the Sports Academy, or the final pillar of the Sports Academy, is the elite training programme. This is really where the magic happens. We take the elite performers, or the above average performers whom we have identified coming out of the tournaments.
“So, this Sports Academy is built in a progressive way. We take the elite performers who are identified in the tournaments and we put them into an academy, an elite training academy.”
As he continued to give in-depth insight into how the National Sports Academy would be run, Ramson Jr. looked specifically at the elite arm, which is being seen as a major part of the Academy.
Ramson disclosed, “The Elite Training academy functions like camp, four to eight weeks. During that period of time, all of the persons who have identified and fallen into the elite training academy, all of them will be paid stipends. These stipends are intended to offset any of their work opportunities that they may have, so that there isn’t an opportunity cost for them to go and participate and be part of the programme.”
He concluded, “The elite academies will also be outfitted, and we will have available for you the equipment that is needed, so that you could focus on the finessing of the talents.”
Guyana’s core sports, of which there are 12, are expected to be the first to benefit from the soon-to-be- implemented Academy programme.
