CAN WE HAVE A POLICY DIRECTION TO CREATE ALL YEAR ROUND SPORTS LEAGUE MATCHES FOR PARTICIPATION BY COMMUNITIES, SCHOOLS, INSTITUTIONS, SECURITY SERVICES, GROUPS, BODIES, ETC (MALES AND FEMALES) TO FORM NATIONAL TEAMS AT VARIOUS LEVELS?
Those of us who were pupils at schools in the mid 1970s still remember with nostalgia, how Sports became an integral part of our daily lifes. Primary School Kids had the privilege of having Physical Education (P.E) as part of the teaching subjects. kids as young as 3 years were exposed to all manner of sports tools and it was a delight, seeing kids running, kicking balls, throwing it in all directions, thus preparing them to develop interests and aquire skills in Sports.
No wonder, these gave rise to colts teams being formed. Children below the ages of 12 years were trained and colts football teams were formed in schools, communities, districts, regions. Notable among these Colts Clubs were Kotoko Babies, Hearts Babies, Olympics Babies, Hassacas Babies, Wise Babies etc which produced prominent footballers who featured for the First Division Teams and the Black Stars.
Our counterparts in the Middle Schools (now JHS) took part in inter-schools Sports Competitions, where talents in various Sports disciplines were unearthed. Then came the inter schools and colleges competions where Secondary Schools in each region would assemble at particular locations for the inter schools and colleges competitions.
Best performing sports personalities, both males and females were selected and made to compete with other regional competitors who also excelled in their respective regions and the best among the lots are selected to constitute the National Best squads for under 17 teams or any National Team deemed fit and appropriate to represent the nation.
In the same vein, Sports Personalities who excelled in Colleges and Universities Games or Sports would be selected to form the ACADEMICALS being the Students National Teams (both males and females) in all areas of Sports; producing all manner of Sports Personalities who could form the nucleus of the National Teams.
In the mid 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s, Institutions (both financial and Service Providers), Corporations, Companies, Agencies, Departments, Security Services, etc had Sports Units where as a policy formulation recruited Sports Personalities ( both males and females) to participate in various Sports disciplines and win honours for the Institutions, Ministries, Departments, Agencies, bodies, Security Services etc they represent.
It was a cordial way of assembling for example, some footballers who featured regularly for Sekondi Hassacas, Eleven Wise, Kotoko, Hearts of Oak coming together to form a football team, representing a Ministry, Department, Agency, Corporation, Company, Security Services etc. At the end of the day, the best among them wore the jerseys to form the teams.
For the records, a lot of Sports Men and women who were in Secondary Schools, Sixth Forms, Colleges, Universities who were then students at Schools featured for Ghana in Athletics, Football, Hockey, Basketball, Volleyball, LawnTennis, Table Tennis, etc. Those were the days, talents in Sports were tapped and fully utilized. Allowances paid to them helped in the payments of their fees and sometimes, their parents and siblings all benefited directly or indirectly. Some were given Scholarships, Bursaries, etc so far as they played for the Ministries, Departments, Agencies, Institutions, Corporations, Companies, SecurityServices etc.
Our brothers and sisters who for one or two reasons were not able to obtain formal education but ended up as trades men and women but have skills in Sports and have been training with local teams in the communities were also identified and their potentials fully tapped and utilized by Sports officials as best among the lots, irrespective of whether they are in the villages, cottages, suburbs, towns, cities etc.
It’s envisaged that should this policy direction be implemented and executed, Ghana wouldn’t struggle in assembling only foreign based sports personalities, an easy way out to represent the nation, Ghana. The outcome of the just ended 2023 AFCON football matches held in Cote d’Ivoire where Ghana assembled foreign based players, whose performance was very abysmal attested to the fact that we cannot be doing the same thing and expect different results.
The ongoing 2023 All African Games currently taking place in Accra, Ghana had produced a Gold Medallist in Table Tennis in the person of a 16 year old Egyptian. This is an indication that we need to put systems and structures in place to revamp the Sports Industry with holistic talent hunts from Basic Schools, Communities, SHS, Colleges, Universities, Groups, Bodies etc so that Ghana adapts best practices in recruiting, training Sports Personalities to fully participate in their respective fields of endeavours, irrespective of their ages, communities, schools they could be located.
It may interest you to know that Kenya is featuring two Table Tennis Players aged 9 years and 11 years. These are juvenile players who are exhibiting their talents. Ghana should critically observe the trend and look at the opportunity of looking beyond the horizon in the selection of athletes and players representing Ghana in various levels. People with such talents could be found in Villages, Communities, Towns, etc.
Just imagine the joy and happiness of football funs coming across an advertisement on Radio and TV to the effect that Ghana’s Premier Football League is being given a new look with the inclusion of the following for each match played, as CURTAIN RAISER, using Kotoko and Hearts of Oak as an example;
▪11a.m to 12 noon — Under 12 Team : Kotoko Babies versus Hearts Babies
▪12 noon to 1 p.m– Female Soccer Team : Kotoko Ladies versus Hearts Ladies
▪1 p.m to 2 p.m -Under 17 Team : Kotoko Youth Team versus Hearts Youths Team
▪2 p.m to 3 p.m– Under 23 Team : Junior Kotoko versus Junior Hearts (Auroras)
▪3 p.m to 4.30p.m– Senior Team : Kumasi Asante Kotoko versus Accra Hearts of Oak
With such a line-up of matches at a go, football funs would have the privilege of sampling different varieties of matches, with talents being exhibited. Parents would go with their children to see their counterparts featuring in matches and these would inspire and encourage them to wear the jerseys and participate in next tournaments. Our wives, sisters, ladies, girls who would watch their female counterparts participating in such competitions would have their share of the national cake by enjoying quality football since the females would exhibit their skills in a very competitive manner.
As part of the policy towards revamping and developing Sports in Ghana, there should be gender balance such that equal attention and patronage could be achieved. Also, all the Premier Football Teams and those in the other divisions should be resourced to have Colts Teams, Female Teams and Under 23 Teams as nursing grounds to feed their Senior Teams and by extension, the Senior National Teams.
This Policy Direction once sactioned, implemented and executed should cover all areas of Sports, including field and track events as well as the lesser known Sports in the Country.
Let me take this opportunity to congratulate all the Coaches and Management Teams handling the various female Sports Teams for their commitment, devotion to duty by moulding raw ladies with little or no knowledge in football into skilled (processed ) and talented Sports Personalities especially the ladies playing football. Some of us enjoy watching the females exhibiting their talents, skills and knowledge acquired from their coaches, technical handlers and Local Organising Management Team Chairpersons and their cohorts for excellent work done so far. We appreciate your vision of developing female Sports (especially Soccer) to attain Championship in Africa, Commonwealth and World Competitions.
Finally, Sports when well revamped could generate huge revenue for the nation through gates proceeds and having Sports Men and Women recruited legally through official channels to European Teams and other Continents to ply their trade would be a huge investment generation for Ghana, similar to what exists in Brazil where footballers are recruited through Government approved Agencies on favourable Contractual Agreements beneficial to the individual player(s), their families, society and the nation as a whole.
Jamaica are producing world record athletes especially the ladies and these are attracting black lady athletes with Jamaican nationality to migrate to Jamaica and help boost their Sports to achieve more honours for Jamaica. Ghana has the potential to do likewise and I believe this is the time to pursue that path.
There are thousands and thousands of the likes of Mohammed Kudus, Michael Essein, Sulley Muntari, Asamoah Gyan, Azumah Nelson, Alice Anum, Rose Hart, Frank Ofori, D.K Poison, Mohammed Polo, Abedi Pele, Tony Yeboah, Armah Senegal etc underutilized and when offered the opportunity, could excel. Sports Industry alone has the potential to create direct and indirect jobs for over 15 million Ghanaians and foreigners as well as Corporate Executives and their Institutions through advertisements and promotion of their products and services, those selling food, companies manufacturing jerseys, sports kits, souvenirs etc designed in the Clubs logo and colours made available for sale at the gates.
Remember, Sports goes hand in hand with entertainment, where musicians, Spinners, Live Band Groups , Fun groups commonly called Jammer groups provide music to keep the venues lively and entertain the Spectators through singing and dancing. Let’s revamp the Sports Industry in Ghana and all those in the Value Chain would benefit immensely economically, financially, giving numerous employment opportunities through job creation.
Emmanuel Tetteh Mensah,
Dodowa District.
Email: tetteh200005@gmail.com
