Organise refresher courses for staff - Minister

Mr Edward Osei-Kwaku, Minister of Youth and Sports has tasked the National Sports Council (NSC) to organise refresher courses for sports development officers to bring them abreast with modern trends of training in the various disciplines and sharpen their organisational skills.

Speaking at Oda in the Eastern Region where he had gone to inspect work on the local stadium, the minister said the declining spate of Ghana sports needs to be tackled vigorously and one way of doing so is to ensure that those who impact rudimentary knowledge of the games are properly armed in the techniques and rules.

He said when the foundation is properly laid athletes would improve with training and called on the NSC to organise the course as a matter of priority to enable development officers to rub off the rust and be better prepared to rejuvenate sports at the grassroots.

Mr Osei-Kwaku asked the district sports development officers not to isolate themselves from the district assemblies but to see them as partners and liase with them to formulate programmes that will hasten the growth of sports.

The minister assured the Birim South District Assembly that every district which takes the initiative in the development of a sports facility would be assisted and pledged 50,000,000 cedis on behalf of the ministry towards the completion of the dressing room of the Oda Stadium.

He reiterated the need for Ghanaians to take care of facilities and maintain them regularly to prevent from them decaying as those in deplorable conditions consume a lot of money to repair.

The minister asked the District Chief Executive to inspect the stadium periodically to ensure that it is weeded regularly and properly maintained.

Admiring the turf and the landscape at the stadium, the minister said "I am impressed by what you have here and I shall convince the handlers of the Black Stars to fix one of their trial matches at this wonderful stadium to inspire the young boys and girls to take football seriously."

Mr Yaw Amprofi, the district chief executive assured the minister that work on the dressing room would be completed on schedule to enable the youth to enjoy the benefits of the facility.

In the minister's entourage were Mr Albert Agbozo, chief administrator of the NSC and Mr Kofi Aggrey, Public Relations Officer of the Sports ministry.