The Guyana Golf Association (GGA) continued its efforts to promote the sport with donations of equipment to the REDO of Region Six, ensuring that as many areas as possible have access to the game.
Receiving the equipment were REDO Ms. Bhagmattie La Cruz, REO Ms. Pearce, SWO Mr. Jaiprasad and Ms. Ally.
Ms. La Cruz stated: “Berbice has demonstrated our interest in Golf and Berbice Educational Institute captured first place in the Inaugural school tournament held by the Guyana Golf Association. We intend to hold onto that ranking and rest assured that Region Six will put every effort into developing top talent for the national team.”
There are now plans to host a Golf exhibition and competition in Albion to give Region Six the opportunity to experience the joy of playing the game for the first time. Dozens of businesses have already indicated that they will support the venture and contribute prizes for the event.
The GGA and Ministry of Education Allied Arts Unit (Ms. Barker-King and Mr. Langhorne) have scheduled the ‘Train the Trainers’ programme for Regions Two, Four and Five in September now that sufficient equipment and balls are available for the expansion of the sport to an additional 50 schools.
This will give the most populous six out of the 10 regions access to the sport before the end of 2021 and more than 10,000 potential players from whom a national team and potential Olympic team can be selected.
As was promised by the Ming’s family and Neil Jones, several dozen Golf clubs and balls were given to the GGA to support its efforts to grow the game. The Association and NexGen Golf Academy are currently hosting a second Golf Camp in memory of former coach Colin Ming.
On Thursday, the camp featured an appearance by Priyanna Ramdhani and Akili Haynes of the National Badminton Team and its President Gokarn Ramdhani, who remarked: “It was amazing to see the reaction from the kids to the exposure to both our sports and the potential for developing strong athletes is evident from the efforts being made by Aleem and his team.”
Hussain said that the assistance provided by two-time Guyana Open champion Dr. Joaan Deo, who has demonstrated extraordinary patience in taking the 3-6 year students under her personal care, reflects her passion to develop an Olympic team.
“Dr. Joaan has been with me every step of the way ever since we started the outreach to schools, even at the Giftland Mall and University of Guyana. She has shown selflessness in her devotion to helping others learn the game.”
Because of the increased interest in the sport, the Academy has added more coaches (Samuel Carter, Vishal, Colin Wong, Margo, Gwyneth Carter, Russ Hayward and Miguel Wong) and even had a guest coach appearance by Leaknarain Shivraj on opening day.
The camp concluded on Saturday with a skills competition and graduation after the final week of training that will include Table Tennis and Archery.
For more information about the sport or how to get involved as a sponsor, coach or to learn the game, visit the NexGen Golf Academy on Woolford Avenue or its platforms on Facebook and Instagram.
