Mother Williams Calls On Sports Minister

An advanced party of the Williams sisters, winner and runner up of the just ended Wimbledon tennis championship, on their three Africa-nation tour are in the country on a fact-finding mission to support Ghanaian girls in their chosen careers. The five-member team led by ginger haired Oracene William -mother of Serena and Venus called on Youth and Sports Minister, Edward Osei-Kwaku, in Accra on Wednesday, as part of their five-day itinerary. The team has already visited South Africa and are scheduled to leave for Senegal after their stay in Ghana. Mrs. Williams was evasive on exact date her two daughters, ranked numbers one and two in the world, would arrive. She however said the visit is to help the William sisters identify their roots and to serve as an encouragement to budding Ghanaian women tennis players. The Chairman of the Ghana Tennis Association (GTA), Mr. Jeff Abease noted that ever since Serena and Venus came on top, women tennis in Ghana has been exciting. He said "The sisters' achievement is in no doubt as a result of proper planning and hard work which we Ghanaian would have to take a cue from”. Mr. Abease called on the sisters' to support programmes of the GTA including the Students Identification Programme. He said the GTA loses many of its girls after they attain the age of 18 because there is no properly laid down programme for them to pursue and as a result, they either travel to the US or enter into early marriages