Poor Harvest At Beijing Games

There was this interesting story of a boy who was preparing for a crucial examination. On the excuse of no funds from his parents, this boy had to go to school every day poorly fed.

In the evenings, because of the same excuse of no funds, the poor boy could not get access to electricity to prepare himself adequately for the following day’s work.

As a form of encouragement or is it incentive, this boy’s parents promised him fantastic money and even added a brand new pair of shoes if he should come out with flying colours.

Where was this money hiding when the boy desperately needed good food to nourish his brain?

Where were those caring parents when this boy was compelled to strain his eyes to read in the dark?

You cannot cheat, so as was expected, the boy failed miserably in the examination. That brilliant needy child is called Ghana Sports.

We want to reap where we have not sown; so we went to Beijing only to inflate the numbers.

Our national anthem did not boom in the stadium loud speakers and the national flag of Red, Gold and Green with the majestic Black Star in the middle could not unfurl in the cool Beijing breeze.

Another international event has come to an abysmal end with the failure (or refusal?) of Vida Anim to do the 200 metres dash for her country.

Our athletes and boxers to the games, like dry leaves in the harmattan, fell one after the other without reaching the medal zone.

I saw athletes from all places, including war-torn Sudan, running faster, soaring higher, hitting harder and stretching longer, but where was Ghana, the country that held so much hope for Black Africa at independence?

Where are all those talents which once made Ghana the most powerful boxing nation in the Commonwealth?

In a belated move, as if fully knowing very well that that money will never be spent, the government promised our athletes some mouth-watering cash rewards, if they should make it to the medal zone.

Check it; US$25,000 for Gold, US$20,000 for Silver and US$15,000 for Bronze. As could be expected, the state coffers have been spared the cash, because you do not come home with game, if you carry a gun without bullets.

We were not part of the winning team. We were only part of the team in the true spirit of the Olympic Games. But should that be our consolation?

The amazing thing is that any time we need money for something that will bring honour to this country, we always get tonnes of excuses.

Chief among them is the proverbial No Fund syndrome. We have enough to pay people who drive all day long doing nothing profitable but we cannot groom our athletes to make this nation proud on the international circuit.

We also have a taxpayer’s burden in the form of a bureaucratic apparatus called the Ministry responsible for Sports, yet our performance in the field is not worth bothering our heads about.

When I saw Usain Bolt of Jamaica, like thunderbolt crossing the line in both the 100 metres and 200 metres in record times, I knew we cannot blame Nature for our failures.

Here was a man, whose great grandfathers might have been captured from the thick tropical forests of Africa to begin a life of slavery in the Americas, running like a hare. That means when it comes to raw talents, we have them in abundance.

Bolt was not alone. There were a lot of other Blacks of African descent running or doing other events in the colours of great nations like the United States of America (USA), Great Britain, Canada, Brazil and France.

Apart from them the performance of other Black sportsmen and sportswomen from Jamaica, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba proves that the problem is not about talents but how you process those talents.

Other African countries did not go there as ordinary spectators. Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Morocco and Egypt and even Togo and others made their humble marks.

Ghana did not register anything, although our official representation was fully accomplished. That one, nobody beats us to it.

There are many Usain Bolts roaming the streets of Accra and other towns in a zombie-like manner with a bleak future staring at them.

Their fate could be redesigned and redirected, only if we can spare some few cedis we spend to buy expensive vehicles for the comfort of few talking machines to develop sports facilities in the communities.

It should be possible for us to provide boxing gyms in certain parts of the country such as Greater Accra, Ashanti and the northern regions where we know the youth take delight in the sport.

For a country that can boast world-class boxers, it is an indictment that we cannot point at a single first-class boxing gym.

A lot of the young men who trail us in the dark alleys and rob us could become useful citizens for themselves and this country, if their raw strength and talent could be channelled into some sporting disciplines.

We need more basketball and tennis courts in our various communities and I do not think we need to wait for oil money before constructing these facilities.

The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, went home with a cool US$4.5 million from the recent Wimbledon Open. Who says given the facilities we cannot produce our own tennis stars here?

We cannot continue to blame everything on lack of funds. What we need most and urgently is a sense of direction and the ability to put our priorities right.

Sports development, even at the tertiary level, is nothing to write home about. Gone are the days when there were keen competitions at all levels of the educational ladder.

There were the Academicals, Intercollegiate and the annual Triangular games, which all helped to unearth raw talents for national assignment.

It is sad that what we were doing in the 60s and 70s have become a mirage today. We need to step up our dedication to sports development in the country.

It is an area that will not only bring honour to our country but can tremendously promote youth employment.

The investments being made by a few of our successful professional footballers go to prove that sports development holds a major key to national development only if our leaders will devote more attention to it.

When China took the decision to host the 29th Olympiad, they did not only just invest over US$60 billion for others to come and cart away the medals.

They prepared themselves adequately and made medal hauls in areas that were even considered the traditional preserves of the Americans and Europeans.

We just hosted the 2008 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations and got excited with a third place.

The nationalistic pride that gripped this nation at independence has gradually given way to complacency and despondency.

This time we do not care about national pride when we fail to make a good showing in international tournaments. The last time we won the Africa Cup was in 1982.

We were the first African country to win Bronze in football at the Barcelona Games 10 years later. Since then Cameroon and Nigeria have won football Gold at the Olympics.

This year, whereas we could not even qualify, Nigeria managed to get silver after losing narrowly to Argentina in the finals.

The nations that are making it are those that have identified strengths and have taken positive steps to harness these strengths for national development.

We have sporting talents that need official support. We can be winners and not mere participants if we get our act together.

In addition, the financial windfall that sports is bringing to individuals and nations may shower on us too.