GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — An Athletics Sport Academy has been launched here to transform the sports sector and groom young talent to compete internationally.

The academy will place emphasis on track and field and will target youth between the ages of six and 16, said Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Charles Ramson.

“Sports needs to aggressively transform, it needs to aggressively transform because we have a lot of talent in the country. It has the potential for taking young people to the level of being internationally competitive,” Ramson said at the launch at the Leonora Track and Field Ground.

The ministry has also committed to recommencing the Aliann Pompey sports meet, recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), to ensure youth are provided the opportunity to enhance their talent. The local meet determines the qualification of local athletes for the Olympics and will be hosted annually, while other tournaments and meets will occur regularly.

Minister Ramson encouraged the youth to work hard to attain their goals in sport, noting that local competition is important.

“That is pretty important because if you have a local meet where you can participate and compete in, all of you will now have the chance to get to that point,” he reasoned.

Meanwhile, representative of the Athletics Sport Academy, Cristy Campbell encouraged the first batch of athletes to do their best to achieve their goals.

“I would like to congratulate the very first athletics of the athletics academy. Your only job is to show up and train, and it puts you in a position to transition to the elite programme which is also part of this academy … so I am wishing you good luck going forward. I hope you stay focused and just keep training hard,” she said.

Within the last few months the ministry, through the National Sports Commission, has launched five academies, in a phased manner, spanning the 12 sporting activities. They include football, squash, badminton and table tennis.