13TH AFRICA GAMES AND ITS FALL OUTS

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At long last, the 13th Africa Games has come to an end…and I must say everything has inured to the benefit and honour of Ghaianains.

Not only is the hosting right a privilege but the performance of Team Ghana has sealed the country’s place among the top hierarchy of greatest sporting countries in Africa and the world at large.

Another plus for the country is the beautiful organisation of both the opening and closing ceremonies which exhibited the beauty of African culture in terms of fashion, music, dance and people. I will give all thumbs up to the organisers including the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Local Organising Committee led by Kweku Ofosu Asare and the mother Athletics Federation. The unity of Africaness was fully at play and there was massive discipline ensured at all the games.

At the beginning of the preparations, many Ghanaians expressed skepticism as to whether Ghana could actually pull it off as the host nation. Surprisingly, I do agree that this doubt is valid given the fact that it is the nation’s first time hosting the Olympics of such magnitude where you have more than 40 countries across the continent participating. Ghana has not been noted for good preparations towards sports events in terms of infrastructure and the tacticality of our sportsmen and women. We have hosted African Cup of nations here about twice and in all, our sportsmen failed us. Most of the tournaments also received poor patronage in terms of fans present at the stadiums. This has always been due to lack of proper preparation and publicity to boost the morale of all Ghanaians for such events. However, it seems we learnt quickly to avoid it this time around.

Unlike, football which is touted as the passion of the nation, the 13th African Games has proven this assertion wrong as it has turned out to be 70% well organised with great achievements than our first passion.

What do I mean, the construction and opening of the Borteyman Sports Complex, coupled with the fact that our athletes were this time given all the resources and accommodation to train months ahead of the tournament is a plus that helped in the performance of the athletes.

PERFORMANCE OF GHANAIAN ATHLETES
In all, Ghana clocked 68 medals with 19 of them being Gold and we were sixth on the chart. Though this may not seem enough to celebrate for some people, it is refreshing for the nation because Ghana has never won such grand number of medals in the history of the Olympics since 1973 when we won only seven (7) gold medals which was then adjudged the highest for Ghana.

Our athletes, both males and females performed to their utmost best. My favourite was the track races and the long jumps. Team Ghana showed great sportsmanship there. Football was also one I enjoyed as our teams both the Satellites and the women’s team made us proud as they snatched gold each.

However, there are sporting activities that Ghana needs to concentrate on building on like the martial arts, table tennis, swimming and rugby. The government must pay much attention to these sports as well and we must stop calling them the “lesser known sports”. These sports are equally as good as the so called major ones like football, boxing and hockey. Structures need to be put in place to accommodate these sporting activities so that our men and women can compete at any international competition.

Just as Herbert Mensah has always been saying, rugby is international and should be treated as such in this country. The much needed investment must be pushed in and people must stop their apathetic sentiments about the game. The rugby game is worth millions of dollars in revenue in countries like the USA and South Africa and it is a sure potential tourism attraction which can grow a nation’s capital inflows. If South Africa can do, why not Ghana.

INFRASTRUCTURE OF SPORTS IN GHANA
One other thing that made many Ghanaians doubt if the country was fully prepared to host the Olympics was the infrastructural challenges that have always been the bane of Ghana’s preparations on such occasions. The Borteyman Sports Complex is a very good initiative which rescued the country from shame. As at the time of starting the Olympics, the Kaneshie Sprts Complex was not in good shape which should not have been so. The Kaneshie Complex is a very good ground for such tournaments and to think that it never crossed the minds of the organisers to get the place in shape is a shame for the country.

I wonder why it has taken years to fix the Legon Stadium only to get it in a kpakpakpa state for this competition. If we prioritise these infrastructural edifices, it inured to our benefit and catches international eyes. The situation was so bad that it affected our reputation when the South African hockey teams decided not to participate in the competition due to the bad state of our Theodocia Okoh Hockey Pitch.

I don’t blame the South African teams because I have seen the hockey pitch situated in Accra Central and I believe it needs a lot of work. The carpet grass is worn out and people could trip over it. Some of the spectator stands and sits have rusted and are torn up and need replacement. As a country, we need to see these industries as lucrative and potential tourism earners for the country and invest massively in their infrastructure.

HOSPITALITY OF GHANAIANS
The famous hospitality attributes noted of Ghanaians was massively at play during the tournament. Some foreign nationals were presented with Ghanaian cultural paraphernalia whiles some Ghanaian supporters expressed their sympathy for other nationals during competitions.

It was a good thing to note that the Local Organising Committee decided to make the entry free for Ghanaian nationals. I was not really happy with attendance at some sporting events though but I would not blame the Ghanaians. I would rather blame the powers in charge of such sports in the country. If these sports are well promoted and publicised , Ghanaians will take keen interest in them and show up for the games.This all boils down to the government’s commitment to all kinds of sports in the country. The discrimination against some sporting activities are rather becoming an albatross on the neck of the nation and it is a red flag of retrogression.

We have the marketing, administrative and communication brains that we should tap into to help promote the so called lesser known sports in Ghana. The more investments are made in every sporting activity, the more it yields international results for the nation.

We must also look at tapping into young sporting talents from the High School levels, both junior high and senior high. The intercolleges and super zonal sports competitions are very good scouting grounds from where the nation can discover and groom athletes. If you catch them young and groom them, they will be well positioned to deliver good results.

If given the chance for Ghana to host the Africa Games again, I believe the record has already been set and with the right house cleaning mechanisms in place, I believe Ghana can do better next time.