A collaborative effort between the United States Embassy; the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS); the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) has resulted in the hosting of the US Embassy’s second sports Envoy Programme in Guyana, geared at capacity building of youths through sports diplomacy.
The four- day programme, which will run until Thursday, August 22nd, is being facilitated by the Department of State Sports Diplomacy Initiative, and will benefit some 225 athletes and 35 coaches from across the country.
During the official opening ceremony, held at the National Track and Field Center (NTFC) on the West Coast of Demerara on Monday, U.S Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, outlined a few objectives of the Sports Envoy programme.
“The key part of this programme is strengthening the skills of young Guyanese athletes, so that one day we might be watching you on ESPN or even at the Olympics,” Theriot shared.
Guyana’s Tianna Springer and Malachi Austin left U.S. Ambassador to Guyana Nicole Theriot and US Olympians Mechelle Lewis Freeman and Khadevis Robinson in their wake during a novelty race
“With support from our programmes like this one, you can absolutely be Guyana’s next Olympian through the US Sports Diplomacy initiative, we intend to empower more than 200 young athletes and coaches from Regions 5, 6 and 10.”
This year’s programme would see youths learning from US Olympians Mechelle Lewis Freeman and Khadevis Robinson, who both had words of encouragement for the young athletes.
Khadevis Robinson related, “There are two major moments in a person’s life: the moment you were born and the moment you realize why you were born; and the thing about sports is it helps us realize why you want to do certain things. I know sometimes we look at the Olympian we see the final goal, we see people celebrate on tv, but it all starts out with the goal in your mind, with the belief and with the support of coaches and individuals like that. I always tell everybody that when you have a goal that you set, it isn’t so important if you reach your goal, but how you pursue your goal. There’s power in the pursuit.”
Lewis-Freeman shared, “I sat where you are right now as a young girl, not realizing the power that was inside of who I am. And as you discover that power, you will continue to change the world in ways that you don’t even understand. So, I just implore you to understand that one day you will understand your power, but it starts today, right now.”
With the four-day event covering areas such as professional-level training, fitness and nutrition, and mental health, Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr. talked up the impact the programme can have, given Guyana’s recent success in the sport.
“Think about what they will do for all of the young people that it comes into contact with throughout the country; and why it’s so important, it’s not just the engagement of the Ministry and the National Sports Commission,” The Sport Minister started
Ramson continued, “But why that’s important to me and why that’s important to the Ministry as well as for the country is because we believe that Track and Field is one of the areas that have one of the biggest potentials for us, especially at the global level.”
The U.S Embassy’s last Sports Envoy programme was held in Guyana back in 2017, and benefitted the sport of Basketball.
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