GUYANA’S first-ever athletics nursery was officially launched on Sunday at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora with Minister of Sport Charles Ramson Jnr. emphasising the importance and expansion taking place in sports at the national level.

A brainchild of the Ministry of Sport, the nursery also involves the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG)

The athletics nursery is part of the 12 core sports which will benefit from the National Sports Academy Programme. The academy is built on three pillars- Nursery, Tournaments and Elite Training Academy.

Delivering the feature address before a large turnout of youngsters, Minister Ramson said “sport needs to aggressively transform because we have a lot of talent in the country. It has the potential for taking young people to the level of being internationally competitive.”

The minister however stressed that “without having this vehicle that will streamline the talent, provide the support and platform to take you to that level of being able to compete with the international athletes, we’re never going to have this structured environment that creates that pool of talent from which we can choose.”

Minister Ramson reminded that opportunities are there for athletes to compete internationally and that government is committed to partnering with former national athlete and Olympian Aliann Pompey Invitational which also serves as an Olympic qualification event.

“This is a meet that is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC); that’s pretty important because if you have a local meet where you can participate and compete in, you all have the chance to get to that point,” Ramson Jr. disclosed.

Minister Ramson urged coaches to also elevate their game, as there is a scientific approach to sporting success in the modern era, in contrast to the past when talent alone would be enough.

“We recognise that we have the talent, but to translate that and capitalise it to the form where it becomes internationally recognised and competitive, this is the vehicle that is going to take us there, and this in itself requires that commitment from every stakeholder,” Ramson Jr. said.

“You want to do this as a career, you got to start now,” he told the athletes.

“You got to make the sacrifice. Your parents have to know that this is something you want to do, and they have to support you too. The community has to support you too.”.

“We recognise that we have the talent, but to translate that and capitalise it to the form where it becomes internationally recognised and competitive, this is the vehicle that is going to take us there, and this in itself requires that commitment from every stakeholder,” Ramson Jr. said.

“You want to do this as a career, you got to start now,” he told the athletes.

“You got to make the sacrifice. Your parents have to know that this is something you want to do, and they have to support you too. The community has to support you too.”.

In his remarks, President of the AAG, Aubrey Hutson, praised the government for spearheading the effort to stimulate growth and development through the National Sports Academy Programme while congratulating the first batch of athletes who are part of the nursery.

“While we are working out further details and our execution of our plan, we must start, and start we are doing today. And I’m happy today that we have almost all our coaches present,” Hutson said.

NSC member, Cristy Campbell, urged the AAG executives to be prepared for the long haul to get the athletes to the next level.

Campbell also called on the athletes to maximise on the opportunity being afforded to them.

“And what makes it even better is that the athletes just have to show up- everything is funded by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sporst and by extension the government of Guyana. Your only job is to show up and train and it puts you in a position to transition to the elite programme.”