AS part of the Guyana Government’s plan to complete a much-needed National Sports Policy, the first in a series of consultations with Sports federations and associations was conducted yesterday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
A draft document would be issued shortly but, the Ministry of Education (MoE) Department of Sport hosted the interface with the objective of engendering feedback into what would ultimately become the National Sports Policy.
The consultations that are scheduled for the various administrative regions over time are primarily a Government initiative that has been high on Minister Nicolette Henry’s agenda since 2016.
Amidst her preamble, the Minister noted that “at the end of the day, we want a policy that will work for Guyana.”
Noting that her expectation was that more representatives of federations and associations would have been in attendance, Minister Henry related that more than 43 groups were invited to the consultations.

However, there are other opportunities to be had as more consultations are planned to ensure wide participation in the process that will lead to an all-inclusive Sports Policy.
Minister Henry said that “a paper on culture was laid in Cabinet and will become a full policy in Guyana by year-end and it is hoped that the same could be done for Sports”.
Further, she encouraged participants to “connect the dots of the announcement that there is a focus on teachers’ intake at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) which is giving priority to those who are interested in Physical Education”.
Melissa Dow-Richardson, Assistant Director of Sport, who is the lead coordinator on the project, said the aim of the consultations is to focus on the fundamental principles of sports in addition to examining critical policy issues in sports. Other areas of focus of the public consultation were: governance, accountability, ensuring a safe and secure environment, discrimination, harassment and athlete development.
Also addressed were subjects such as sports administration, coaching and training, sports financing, tourism and intellectual property rights. With regard to the media, specific focus was on their roles and responsibilities in addition to their rights.

The role of the Diaspora as well as the future of sports in Guyana with a focus on garnering suggestions towards a development pathway for ultimate implementation, compliance, monitoring and evaluation as part of the National Sports Policy.
Dow-Richardson in her address said, “When we look at sports we are not operating in isolation. There are over 28 Olympic sport disciplines and in Guyana most have representation and our aim is to develop a policy that takes us to another level.”
From the consultations she advised that her team will take shared values of sports that go beyond gender, age or ethnicity to encourage respect, competition, fair play and discipline as hallmarks of the National Sports Policy.