The Ministry of Education Allied Arts Unit in conjunction with the Nexgen Golf Academy held its first of several Golf Fitness Challenges for PE Teachers from Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10 and Georgetown at the Woolford Avenue ground on Thursday.
The podium dwellers earned trophies and vouchers in each category but more importantly, bragging rights for their respective schools and districts.
This Challenge was created by Kurt Braithwaite, Physical Education Officer at the direction of Ms. Lorraine Barker-King, Department Head in an effort to ensure that teachers are fully trained to prepare their respective learners in the more than 80 schools that are already involved in golf.
“This will be a historic year for the sport and our learners, as for the first time in history, Guyana will write golf as a PE elective in the CXC examination. We at the Ministry of Education Allied Arts Unit saw the need for a sport that was fully COVID-19 compliant and are grateful to Mr. Hussain and the Nexgen Golf Academy for working with us to provide training, equipment and expertise to help develop the sport,” said Ms. Barker-King.
She added that golf came along at exactly the right time when almost every other sport was suspended because of COVID-19 and the avid response by the learners around the country has surprised everyone, with thousands of young players taking up the sport.
Many of the teachers present also confirmed that their students were very involved in the sport, preferring golf to many of the other usual sports. “Even though we offer traditional sports, they all show up for golf so we’re asking for additional equipment to ensure that they can all participate.”
The activity was opened by Braithwaite who thanked the entire team comprising of judges from the National Sports Commission, physiotherapists from the Ministry of Health, scorers and officials from the Ministry of Education who were there to ensure that the competition was conducted under the strictest guidelines. “The response by our teachers and learners is proof that we have found a winning solution to the challenge faced by the pandemic and we plan on duplicating these activities around the country this year.”
22 schools were invited to be a part of the activity in which teachers completed a 1/2 mile run, Russian Twist (using golf balls), squats (holding a putter), and battle ropes before heading to part two of the golf challenge.
To complete the golf competition, participants had to drive for accuracy, make three putts from varying distances and difficulty, and golf an entire hole, with the best scores coming out on top.
Results of the competition were as follows:
Golf
Marcelle Mcintosh-Griffith First Place (Region 4, Friendship Secondary)
Shyanne Jordan Second Place (Region 10, Wisburg Secondary)
Kentroy Boston Third Place (Region 2, Johanna Cecilia Secondary)
Fitness
Sherman Bristol First Place (Region 2, Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary)
Kevin Mars Second Place (Region 5, Novar Secondary)
Willon Cameron Third Place (Region 4, President’s College)
President of the GGA and Nexgen Golf Academy Aleem Hussain thanked the Ministry of Education for their commitment to developing the game and showed those present how much international attention Guyana was getting because of golf with a four page presence in the GUIANAME Magazine and a feature upcoming in a Japanese magazine.
“We have accomplished an amazing, probably a Guinness Book of Record achievement, the most players to take up a new sport in a single year, something that could not have been done without the assistance of the Ministry of Education so we will be forever grateful for their commitment and support.”
With the new budget allocating significant funds to sport and education, the hope is that golf is recognized as a core sport and given even more support as the goal is to have 25,000 active players by end of 2023.
