Guyana is set to make history as the first-time host of CARIFTA 2027, with plans to use it as a springboard for sustained international competition and the continued development of young Guyanese athletes.
The 2027 CARIFTA Games were officially launched on Wednesday, marking the first time in the competition’s more than 50-year history that the prestigious junior athletics championship will be held in Guyana.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr, said Guyana’s first hosting will be part of a broader vision to establish the country as a consistent host of major junior athletics competitions.
“This will be the first CARIFTA Games that we host, but I would also like to state publicly and declare that it will not be the last,” Minister Ramson said.
The minister linked the opportunity to the significant investments made in athletics over the past several years, including the development of sporting facilities, the Sports Academy, ELITE and stipend programmes, athlete support and increased investment in national and international competition.
He said these investments have helped Guyana unlock a pool of talent that is now producing athletes with the potential to become Olympic medallists, making continued investment in the sport essential.
“It’s important that Guyana host the CARIFTA Games again and again because we have to continue to feed the talent development process pool,” Ramson said.
He stressed the need to identify and develop a new generation of athletes.
That long-term approach is also being reflected in the education system, with Minister of Education Sonia Parag highlighting the connection among school-level competition, national championships and CARIFTA.
The ministry is aligning the National Secondary School Championships, scheduled for March 3 to 5, 2027, with the Easter CARIFTA Games, creating a more deliberate preparation pathway for young athletes ahead of the regional competition.
She said the pathway allows students to progress from inter-school competition to Nationals and then to CARIFTA, where strong performances can open doors to scholarships and further educational opportunities.
With CARIFTA 2027 expected to bring hundreds of athletes, coaches and officials from across the region, Guyana’s hosting is therefore being positioned as part of a sustained strategy to strengthen athletics, expand opportunities for young people and establish the country as a destination for major sporting competitions.