By KNEWS

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Hear Me Out! – It’s time for Guyana to Invest in an Elite Athlete Assistance Programme

Sep 19, 2025
Sports

By Rawle Toney

Kaieteur Sports – For decades, Guyana has produced athletes of exceptional talent; athletes who have competed with the best in the region and, in many cases, the world. However, too often, their dreams fade because there is no system in place to sustain their journey beyond school or a single flash of success.

If Guyana truly wants to be taken seriously in the realm of sports, then it is time for the Government to establish a fully funded Elite Athlete Assistance Programme (EAAP).

Other Caribbean nations have long understood that talent without investment is wasted potential. Structured investment is required.

Take Trinidad and Tobago, for example. Their government operates an EAAP in line with its National Sport Policy, something that Guyana doesn’t have, committing financial support to athletes preparing for and competing in international events.

The programme targets world-ranked athletes, Olympic sports, and medalists at global, regional, and continental competitions.

Under Trinidad’s model, athletes ranked in the World Top 10 can access up to TT$250,000 (USD 36,846.60), while those in the Top 40 benefit from 75 percent of that sum.

Medalists at major championships receive targeted support as well. Importantly, this funding isn’t just cash…it covers training schedules, coaching, nutrition, medical care, travel to competitions, and professional expenses. It is a system designed to allow athletes to focus on one thing, their performance.

Now contrast this with Guyana. Here, we are too dependent on the collegiate system. Many of our brightest stars, track athletes, swimmers, earn scholarships abroad, develop for a few years, and then, once their college eligibility expires, are left stranded.

With no national programme to support them, most slip quietly into “normal lives,” abandoning sport altogether. The system does not sustain careers, it terminates them.

Guyana is not short on talent. Far from it.

Raekwon Noel, one of the Caribbean’s most promising swimmers; Tianna Springer, a world-class junior sprinter; Malachi Austin and Keliza Smith, both showing dominance on the track; and Trevon Hammer, an exceptional athlete with international potential, all of them are names worthy of investment. They represent not only the future of Guyanese sport, but the future of Guyanese pride on the world stage.

The problem is that while Trinidad and Jamaica invest millions in their athletes, our stars are left to fundraise through family, friends, and the occasional sponsor.

Preparation for elite sport is expensive…coaching, diet, recovery, and international travel cannot be covered by personal sacrifice alone. If Guyana wants to compete in the Caribbean, let alone the world, the government must treat sport as a national priority.

An Elite Athlete Assistance Programme in Guyana should mirror the best practices of our regional neighbours, while tailoring to our unique reality.

It should support athletes across multiple disciplines, not just track and field. Allocate funding based on international ranking and results. Cover essential costs: coaching, nutrition, medical support, training camps, travel, and professional fees, and be tied to a four-year Olympic cycle, ensuring long-term development rather than one-off handouts.

Guyana has the raw talent. What we lack is the system. The time has come to bridge that gap.

Athlete Assistance, Daniel Williams, Emanuel Archibald, Malachi Austin, programme