YBG hosts first-ever Student/Athlete Pathway Conference

Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) recently hosted athletes from schools across Guyana for its first Student-Athlete Pathway Conference. The conference was held at the Marian Academy Auditorium, Georgetown, Guyana.

“The pathway conference is designed to help students build the skills, knowledge and qualifications that they need to enter a tertiary institution, learn financial literacy and business, understand their need for health, inclusive of mental health, understand what it is to be a leader, learn how to get goals and maximise their priority setting skills,” a press release outlined.

Chair of the YBG event and former student/athlete, Tequain Vieira, in his opening remarks to the gathering, said, “Being a student athlete requires dedication, time management, organisation and most importantly discipline. These are important skills to have in any field but they are specifically important in the world of athletics.”

Vieira added, “The experience of being a student athlete prepares a young person for the rest of their life. If you think about the words or phrases that describe a great athlete, they are almost identical to what describes a successful person.”

The conference saw the participation of student athletes from 16 schools across the country with support from the Ministry of Education.

Kurt Braithwaite, Administrator (ag.) of the Allied Arts Unit – Ministry of Education, in his remarks, said: “I am overly excited by this prospect of such a programme because I would have shared many conversations on this particular topic as a former athlete, teacher, coach, sports administrator and mentor. This is a vision as to how sports can transform lives.”

Braithwaite added, “The Ministry of Education through the Unit of Allied Arts has been providing training for Physical Education teachers across Guyana so as to improve the overall development of learners, ensuring that they learn the fundamental skills in various sports.”

Community Relations Advisor, Ryan Hoppie, of sponsor Esso Exploration and Production Guyana said: “For ExxonMobil Guyana, it is important that our sponsorship has positive impacts in the community and for our youth in sport we see the many youth empowerment benefits.”

Hoppie added, “Our collaboration with YBG goes beyond the court as we support other features of the programme, including educational intervention for student athlete support, and a leadership and community empowerment facet. At ExxonMobil Guyana we believe this holistic approach to supporting youth in the community through focus on social, physical and psychological development will best serve the needs of the young athletes.”

The YBG Student-Athlete Pathway Conference was also sponsored by E-Networks and John Fernandes Limited.