Latest update December 11th, 2024 1:33 AM
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Sports Resource Centre for CASH-Dr Anthony
Cricket Academy set for Stadium by year-end
Dr. Frank Anthony
By Sean Devers
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony told Kaieteur Sport on Wednesday that his Ministry is in the process of opening a Sports Resource Centre, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).
The Minister also informed that a comprehensive Cricket Academy will be set up at the Guyana National Stadium by year-end.
“We (Guyana Government) understand the importance of Sports to nation-building and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Education last year set up a joint committee to vigorously re-introduce sports into the school system.
The committee is doing a situation analysis as to what relates to having sports on the school curriculum, the training of sports teachers and how the programmes will be introduced,” Dr Anthony informed.
The Parliamentarian added that already his Ministry has introduced some sports into the school system and is moving ahead to have more sporting disciplines in a structured manner at the school level.
“We have gotten Chess back into the schools and 40 schools are participating in the second annual Chess Championships this year. Two hundred Chess sets have been distributed to schools and we are now setting up a Schools Basketball programme and aim to give backboards and balls to selected schools. Cricket and Football competitions are also played at the school level, while we want to get Volleyball back into schools,” Dr Anthony disclosed.
The Minister said that his Ministry will be calling on all available resource personnel to aid in the development of our sportspersons at the school level since technical support is of vital importance if we hope to produce athletes fully equipped to be successful at the International level.
“The schools’ athletics programme has been a part of our system for a long time, but we are now re-organising the entire programme which seems disorganised and counter productive to its intended purpose over the last two years.
The Schools’ athletics programme is very important in identifying talent and keeping records of their performances. We will be getting competent people with the technical knowledge involved since the keeping of records in particular is very important in any sport,” the Minister added.
Dr Anthony disclosed that the Sports Resource Centre will be equipped with video tapes, DVDs, Computers, TVs and Sports text books.
‘We have already bought 250 Text Books on Sports and we hope to set up internet facilities there also so that athletes and officials can access information much in the same manner as is done at the National Library. A photo copying machine will be available to make copies of research material since nobody will be allowed to remove anything from the facility,” the Minister added.
Dr Anthony, speaking at the launching of the cricket match between Queen’s College (QC) and Berbice High School (BHS) at the Stadium, said that more emphasis must to be placed on sports at the school level and feels that the future of cricket in this part of the world lies in the hands of the players who are now coming through the school and club systems.
“If this is not working it will be difficult for us to do well at the international level. This is why we (Sport and Education Ministry) have to put strong systems at the schools level for our young cricketers as we nurture them,” Dr Anthony explained.
The former QC student said Sport plays a critical role in social cohesion and sporting heroes help to produce a sense of pride and inspiration among the population.
“If you look when West Indies play here (in Guyana) people hug and celebrate with the people next to them when we (West Indies) do well. These people don’t know each other and many times come from vastly different backgrounds. Sports unite people and our people develop hope when our sporting teams are doing well,” Dr Anthony added.
He said that talks have already been held with the WICB and the Guyana Cricket Board and the Cricket Academy should be a reality this year.
He highlighted the many benefits of sports to a nation and said that being active helps to make a healthier nation.
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