MoE, GGA benefit from massive shipment of golf balls

The Texas Golf Association teamed up with Champions Golf Club in Houston to ship over 8000 golf balls to the Guyana Golf Association (GGA) which were received this week.
Education Ministry Permanent Secretary Alfred King said, “The Ministry is extremely happy with the results of this partnership which we started in January 2021 with the Guyana Golf Association and Nexgen Golf Academy. Under the driving force of Mr [Aleem] Hussain, this sport was introduced into the school system and with the support of the UAA [Unit of Allied Arts], hundreds of learners have taken golf as a PE elective. I just left a meeting with the Honourable Minister and with the push to ensure that all learners are exposed to at least one sport during their school years, we see this partnership growing in the years ahead.”
According to Texas Golf Association President Jon Shipley, “We continue to be impressed by the level of dedication to the development of the sport being done by Aleem and his team in Guyana. This is a small step that the TGA and the members and staff of the Champions Golf Club in Houston have taken to support their efforts. We reiterate our commitment to the young players and will ensure that every opportunity possible for events, scholarships and activities in our region are open to them.”

Head of the Ministry’s Unit of Allied Arts, Nicholas Fraser said, “The UAA continues to support the development of the sport by the Guyana Golf Association and has facilitated its growth in more ways than one. We are seeing that golf has a wide appeal, especially with female students and PE class sizes have increased drastically in several schools since the introduction of the sport.”
GGA President Hussain said: “We wish to thank the members of the TGA and Champions Golf Club along with the Pas Cargo team and the Ministry of Education, all of whom contributed to make this happen. With this support from the TGA, we now have the resources to continue our push to make golf a top sport in the country. The model we have built proves that even without access to a golf course as other countries have, innovation will overcome all obstacles as our learners’ participation and pass rate is the highest in the region! ”
In just two years, the GGA has been able to affiliate with the LPGA/USGA Girls Site, Texas Golf Association and several other organisations, and has allowed more than 8000 persons access to play the sport for the first time in eight of 10 regions in the country. They are awaiting approval of their membership application to the Guyana Olympic Association, which once received will allow for other educational, tournament and training activities to become available for young Guyanese.
The arrival of the thousands of balls is timely as starting August 10, the GGA, in partnership with the Education Ministry and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), will host the first-ever Savannah Milk National Junior Golf Championship. Regional competitions will be hosted in Essequibo (August 10); West Coast (August 11); Georgetown (August 12); Rosignol  and Albion (August 13) with the National Finals on August 19 at the Nexgen Golf Academy on Woolford Avenue.
The competition is open to ages 10-22 at all skill levels with Coaches on hand to assist first time players. Top performers will be selected to represent the country in Barbados, Trinidad and Suriname.