THE Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), in collaboration with the National Sports Clinic and the Ministry of Health, recently commenced implementation of a comprehensive Pre-Participation Screening Programme for athletes with prospects for international representation.
This initiative is part of the GOA’s strategic focus on athletes’ welfare, performance optimisation and injury prevention, aimed at revolutionising the approach to athletes’ development and care in the nation.
This strategic undertaking marks a new and significant milestone in the GOA’s commitment to advancing the sporting landscape of Guyana.

By implementing a scientifically driven approach to athlete assessment and management, the programme seeks to assist with enhancing training effectiveness, monitoring progression, and mitigating injuries, ultimately fostering a culture of knowledge and excellence within the sporting community.
The Pre-Participation Screening Programme is a mandatory requirement for all athletes being considered for international representation, including those receiving grant support from the GOA and athletes with prospects for representation of Guyana in international competitions and Olympic cycle events.

Over the last few months a structured schedule devised to facilitate the screening of athletes across various sporting disciplines was successfully undertaken, under the expert guidance of Ms Vanessa Wickham at the National Sports Clinic, Aquatic Centre, Liliendaal.
The screening sessions provide athletes with the opportunity to undergo comprehensive assessments tailored to their specific disciplines. The objective of programme is to adopt a scientific approach to athletes’ development, ensuring a systematic evaluation of training regimens, progress, improving athletes and coaches’ knowledge on injury-management care and prevention as a key basis for improving performance.

The screening process involves comprehensive history-taking and physical examinations, with a focus on ensuring both the medical and musculoskeletal health of each athlete, while also optimising their performance and mitigating injury risks.
The screening will encompass three main components. Medical Screening – Ensuring the overall health of the athlete, Performance Testing – Evaluating key performance metrics to optimise training, Musculoskeletal Screening – Identifying any potential areas of concern in terms of injury risk and physical readiness and Nutritional Education.

“The Pre-Participation Screening is crucial in developing a robust, data-driven approach to athletes’ performance and injury- prevention strategy. By collecting baseline data, we can track each athlete’s progress, enhance their training, and develop effective rehabilitation strategies when needed,” the GOA release stated.

The screening teams from the National Sports Clinic, Ministry of Health, includes a combination of medical professionals, including physiotherapists, a psychiatrist, and a medical doctor, to ensure a holistic approach to athletes’ health and performance The pre participation screening comes as an extension of a successfully held sport medicine workshop realised through collaboration between the Guyana Olympic Association, the National Sports Clinic and the Ministry of Health, as the executive continues to explore new partnerships and pathways aimed at developing systems which can lead to enhancing athletes’ performances in Guyana.