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GBA & MOE Badminton School Vacation Camp …‘Six MOE Sports Camps across Guyana’ – Nicholas Fraser
By Sean Devers
The Ministry of Education (MOM) through its Unit of Allied Arts programme has
Narayan Ramdhani teaching the youngsters to play Badminton during yesterday’s Badminton Camp at the Gymnasium. (Sean Devers photo)
collaborated to organize School Vacation Camps around Guyana and the Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) in conjunction with the MOM is holding one of those camps.
Their two-week Badminton Camp at the National Gymnasium began on July 10 and concludes on July 21 and according the Head of the Physical Education component of the Unit of Allied Arts Nicholas Fraser, six School Vacation Camps around the Country have been organised.
“Four Camps have been set up in Linden which includes a Skipping Camp, a Basketball Camp in Region Three at the West Demerara Secondary School and this one for Badminton here at the Gymnasium in Georgetown,” stated Fraser.
Fraser informed that Skipping or ‘Jumping rope’ is actually a sport with a registered Association but is not a part of the Olympics.
The Badminton Camp has 20 participants and National Junior and Senior Badminton Champion Narayan Ramdhani, who is home on vacation from Canada where he is studying for a degree in sports science at Douglas College, is assisting with teaching the youngsters the basics of playing Badminton.
Students from Eccles Primary, Marian Academy, University of Guyana, Queens College, St Joseph’s High, School of the Nations, Bishops High School, North Georgetown Primary and Covent Garden’s Secondary are involved in the Badminton Camp.
According the 19-year-old Ramdhani, who copped the NSC Junior Sportsman of the year Award last year after being nominated for three previous years, seven of the students involved have never played Badminton before but after one week have shown eagerness to learn.
Narayan, who first represented his Country at the tender age of seven as the youngest member of the side, emerged as the only player to win medals with two ‘Gold and a Silver’ in Suriname, knows what it takes to be an ambassador for your Country as a pre-teen.
“We try to teach the kids life skills in addition the Badminton to help make them a rounded person from a tender age,” explained Ramdhani, the only internationally ranked Guyanese Junior player.
Ramdhani, who won a Bronze medal in the Pan Am and three Gold Medals in Suriname, says that going to Canada was a good decision since the standard of players and facilities is much better than here in the Caribbean, while the standard of Education is also high.
“My goal for the next five years is to play more International tournaments, getting into the seniors ranking and qualify for the 2020 Olympics. If I had one wish it would be to win a gold medal at the Olympics and I intend to work really hard to make that dream come true,” the youth promised.
“The Caribbean does not really view Racket Sports as important as they should while the standard of badminton in Guyana could be better. We need more players and facilities, especially outside of Georgetown,” Ramdhani lamented.
It is felt by some that Camps like these are used by some parents as a free ‘Day Care’ to send their kids when school is closed, while having little or no interest for the Sport of Badminton which results in such a low attendance rate.
But Ramdhani, who will represent Guyana in next month’s Caribbean Badminton Championships in Trinidad as a senior for the first time, said that there is lots of natural talent among the little ones but the lack of proper facilities and opportunities force those who hope to make Badminton a career to leave these shores to improve their game.
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