Blind Sports Congress: Ghana Blind Union urge support from Sports fraternity

The Ghana Blind Union Association [GBU] held its annual Sports congress on Tuesday aimed at giving reports on its various sporting activities by the executives of national representatives.

The occasion which was held at the Valley View University in Oyibi was by representatives from all the 10 regions across this country.

The programme was also attended by the Director of the Ghana Blind Union Association, Dr. Obeng Asamoah and other renowned persons in disability sports.

The Ghana Blind Union is an Association which has been mainly formed for visually impaired persons aimed at championing blind sports in the country.

The Association takes part in various sporting activities such as the Goal Ball, Cycling, Judo, Futsal, Tennis etc, disciplines which although are not locally recognized among the visually impaired, it is recognized globally.

The Golden Rollers, which is the national team of Ghana, participated at the 2013 African Goal Ball Championships in Kenya and are currently preparing for the World Championships in South Korea next year.

Speaking at the event on Tuesday, President of the Ghana Goal Ball Association, Eric K. Kissi asked the government and corporate entities to come to the aid of the Association.

'The association is aimed at championing blind sports in the country. But we cannot do this without the necessary support from corporate institutions," Mr. Kissi pointed out.

"We cannot do this without the massive support from philanthropists. We are therefore calling on sportsmen and women who have already attained something in the sporting arena," he continued.

"We are calling on footballers plying their professions outside Ghana to at least do donations into the pots of disability Sports, that at least 1% of their income could be donated into our sports and then help develop blind sports in specific and also disability sports at large," Eric Kissi appealed.

'My message to my folks who are also visually impaired is that be blind and remain visionary for sight without vision is meaningless," he concluded.

Director of the Ghana Blind Union Association, Dr. Obeng Asamoah also added his voice.

'Although it looks like things are difficult, we believe the Sports wing will get through. Nothing is impossible,' he said.

'I always believe in the never say die spirit. Because I always believe that no matter how the situation is, there is always a way of going forward," Dr. Obeng affirmed.

He urged: 'Let us also consider ways that we can attract sponsorships to ourselves, because we have institutions and organizations in this nation that put so much money in other areas of sports. Gold Fields for instance put so much money in the Black Stars, and it is not out of place if we can attach ourselves to an organization like that'.

The Goal Ball game has now been recognized and accepted as part of the Ghana University Sports Association games [GUNSA GAMES] and is expected to be approved as part of the annual National Unity games.