GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The inaugural National Sports Academy has kicked off with two of the 12 disciplines it will eventually offer, as Guyana tries to develop world-class athletes.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr. with some of the players and officials at the launch of the National Sports Academy.Volleyball and squash activities took place at two different venues on Saturday. At the National Racquet Centre, squash players began their training under the guidance of national coach Carl Ince while volleyball training started at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
The National Sports Academy will initially focus on the 12 core sports cricket, football, athletics, basketball, table tennis, swimming, hockey, squash, rugby, volleyball, lawn tennis and badminton.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr. said the other 10 sports will be launched, in phases, in the next few weeks.
“This is our nursery program and what we’ve been doing is focusing on building a strong relationship with all the sports associations to see how we will be able to use programs to develop world-class athletes,” he said.
“The sports academy is a program that functions very much like the education system, in that it builds progressively until we become world-class athletes. Now, that requires stuff from the government, requires stuff from the association, but it also requires stuff from the athletes themselves, because the ones who want it the most – and the vehicle is here – those are the ones who are going to see themselves get to the highest level in their respective sport.”
The training offered at the academy is free of cost to athletes, as the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport is footing the bill.
“So, you have the facilities, you have the operational expenses covered and then you also have the coaching facility covered, as well. So, what you can see here is the beginning of something that will turn out to be, hopefully, historic,” Minister Ramson said.
The National Sports Commission will be responsible for overseeing the works of the National Sports Academy.
