A male-dominated sport is seeing a wave of female influence, destined to change the game forever. Leading the way are several of Guyana’s top female golfers, one of whom we caught up with for an interview.
Dr Joaan Deo has made it her life’s goal to see golf being played at the highest level in Guyana, and even more so in schools and among women. She won the Guyana Open in 2016 and the Suriname Ladies Champion title in 2019, along with numerous local tournaments and placed sixth in Barbados in the Gary Sobers Open Invitational, a tournament that features a plethora of top golfers in the Caribbean.
In a sit-down with Guyana Times Sport, Dr Deo was asked a series of questions about her involvement with introducing golf in schools as she is one of the few pioneers to push the sport and also the introduction of more women in the sport.
Dr Joaan Deo has always been a top performer
Q: Tell me about your involvement in golf?
I have been playing the sport for quite some time (learnt from my dad) and started coaching schoolchildren for the 2017 Guyana Open. That continued with outreaches to University of Guyana and the Giftland Mall for two years. It’s been refreshing to teach a sport that you love so much in the hopes of young children furthering the knowledge and skills instilled in them and becoming athletes themselves.
Q: Now that you have seen the sport grow and be played in schools, how does it make you feel?
To see this sport grow and now being played in schools is an absolute joy. It has been a struggle to get persons involved in the sport for many years and to now see it become a reality where so many schools are on-board, it makes me feel quite happy to see the sport expand exponentially, and with us guiding the future generation, it’ll be here for many, many more years to come.
Q: With all the women coming in and you teaching them, do you see that as a bad thing or do you look forward to the competition?
It can never be a bad thing when young people are being exposed to a new sport, including women. It is remarkable women are learning the sport and enjoying it, equally, I look forward to the competition. I would love to play in a tournament where there’s 30+ Guyanese women participating.
Q: How do you feel about the introduction of golf in schools?
Especially in the past year, with golf on the CXC/CAPE syllabus as a sports elective, I believe that now with the sport being taught in over 40 schools (soon to be 100), this will change golf forever in Guyana.
The perception that it’s only for a certain class of people is changing and the best golfers in Guyana have come from the most unlikely villages. What is necessary is more access to golfing facilities at low cost so that our children and new players can grow and excel. And this starts with better and more diverse sporting facilities across the country.
Dr Deo was especially excited about the growth of the game in all of the schools so far and said she planned on getting more involved as the programme developed nationally.
Golf is seeing phenomenal growth since it was introduced to Queen’s College, the Bishops’ High, St Rose’s High, and University of Guyana, with as many as 42 additional schools having joined the school programme in 2021 with many more scheduled to be added.
