Guyana targets regional sports-hub status with new training centre

by Michael Bascombe

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Sept. 19, 2026 - Guyana is finalising plans for a multi-sport high-performance centre at Good Hope before taking the project to tender, as the government seeks to establish the country as a regional training hub.

Minister within the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Steven Jacobs, said the proposed complex would include three playing fields, an indoor training facility, a performance laboratory, a strength-and-conditioning gym, and accommodation for athletes.

“We’re still going through the design as we speak,” Jacobs said on Saturday’s TalkSports programme. “The consultant is to reach us next week so that we can finalise and then move out to tender to get this up and running.”

Jacobs said work was already taking place on the fields at the proposed site, but the wider complex remained at the design stage.

The plans also include nutrition and recovery areas, an auditorium for classes, and athlete testing services intended to support sports science and biomechanics assessments.

“We want Guyana to be positioned as a sporting destination, as a sporting hub, where we can provide a space and opportunity for sportsmen and women around the entire region and also internationally to come to this country and get the necessary training,” Jacobs said.

He said athletes using the centre would be assessed and provided with individual training and development plans.

“You’ll have something that is complete that will make sure that when people go there, they can actually leave with a programme and plan,” he said.

According to Jacobs, the government examined high-performance facilities in other countries while developing the concept, with particular attention given to centres that combine training, testing, recovery, nutrition, and accommodation in one location.

The proposed centre will form part of a wider sports academy and three-field complex at Good Hope.

Jacobs also disclosed that approximately 25 athletes had been selected for an existing elite programme aimed at preparing competitors considered capable of reaching the Olympic level.

“We have an elite programme for a selected group of athletes that we think have the necessary potential to go to the Olympics - about 25 people,” he said.