President of the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU), Ryan Dey, stated that when executives of the Union meet with the new Minister of Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., they will be presenting a solid case for a home for Rugby.
From 2006 to 2016, Guyana won eight Caribbean Sevens titles, including six on the trot from 2006 – Photo Credit: (NewsRoom)
Minister Ramson Jr. has been meeting with the various National Sport Federations and Associations to understand their concerns and vision.
Though he has not met with the GRFU as yet, Dey explained that plans are afoot for that meeting, in which he wants to re-engage the government about finding a permanent home for the sport.
“I have been preaching this since I started as the President; we need a home that we can call our own, and that is our main aim, and that is what we really want to drive home to the new administration so that we can be self-sufficient,”
Dey added that his main aim is to drive force so that the Union can get its own rugby ground.
“With being self-sufficient and having a place to call our home and having guys train at any time, we can hold tournaments where we can have monetary gains from these tournaments.
The former national player noted that this would allow for players to train at their own time and pace.
“For example, in the National Park, we have guys coming off of work at 16:30h, and they have to reach to training for 16:00h. If we have our own ground with lights, the guys can come out like 18:00h, and we can start seeing better players come out of Guyana because they will now have time to train and do other social activities.”
In February 2019, the Government of Guyana signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Guyana Hockey Board (GHB) and the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), paving the way for the construction of artificial surfaces for the two-sport disciplines, West of the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown.
Dey, who was elected February of this year, indicated the proposed area is near the site mentioned above.
“We were in talks with the previous government of our ground being alongside these other sport disciplines, but I think during some time the communication broke down, so that’s why we are trying to pick things back up. We already have a proposal on how the ground should be situated and the area where the ground can go. So we are awaiting on our turn when we can meet the new Minister and have a rapport with him about our goals for 2020 and beyond.”
In 2017, the National Sports Commission, in collaboration with the National Parks Commission, undertook operation restoration on the National Park Rugby Field, but it is still to be completed.
GRFU President Ryan Dey – Photo Credit: (NewsRoom)
On June 27, 2018, then Director of Sport, Christopher Jones, explained that he was hopeful for a year-end completion of the project, which was stalled due to “a combination of the weather and a lack of material.”
From 2006 to 2016, Guyana won eight Caribbean Sevens titles, including six on the trot from 2006.
(Extracted and modified from NewsRoom)
