Third Sports For Development Seminar Ends In Cape Coast

Former chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Lepowura Alhaji M. N. D. Jawula, has urged the country’s regulatory authorities to ensure that enough resources are channeled into the development of sport as that is the surest way to horn talents.

He said, “Ghana’s roots in terms of sports development are not firm enough despite having rocked shoulders with the best of the world over the years”.

The former GFA Capo said these when delivering the main paper at the third sports for development seminar which ended at Cape Coast last Friday.

It was organize by sports development and child rights NGO, Play Soccer Ghana in partnership with the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation of the University of Cape Coast.

H e spoke under the theme “Grassroots sports and its implications for sports and development.

Alhaji Jawula urged the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS), the National Youth Council (NYC), and the GFA to stand up to the challenges of the time and ensure that the regulatory authorities do not short change grassroots sports and sports in general.

“I am aware that the District Assembly’s Common Fund is expected to allocate 5% to sports development for grassroots development as is the Ministry of Environment, Science and Innovation, who are required to dedicate specific lands grassroots sports”.

Lepowura Jawula said grassroots development planning should be well defined with a clear objective as well as how to achieve those objectives and what time frame and budget to go around it.

These he added, are the surest ways to ensure that sports takes a firm root in Ghana as the nation seeks to be very competitive on the international stage.

Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Vincent Oppong Asamoah, called for the active involvement of sports heroes to drive this movement forward, adding that in the past, too much emphases has been placed on academic work to the neglect of building talents who could go on to do well.

He challenged the country’s universities to develop talents that could go on and do well for themselves and Ghana.

Writers email: [email protected]