Accra, July 21, GNA - Mr Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, Minister of Education Youth and Sports has said sports is a viable and lucrative industry which if properly managed, could create jobs for the unemployed Ghanaians especially those who have just completed school. He said gone were the days, when sports, was considered "merely as a recreation".
Mr Baah Wiredu made this observation when two officials of the "Recreation Wish List Committee" of the United States- Mrs Cora Barry, Founder and Dr Julianne Malveaux, Treasurer - who are in the country to donate tennis equipment to revolutionalise the sport, called on him at his office in Accra on Monday. The team earlier held discussions with members for the Ghana Tennis Association (GTA) and the Acting Chief Executive of the National Sports Council, Dr Owusu Ansah. Their visit is a follow up to one in July, last year, to the country where they promised to donate some equipment to assist young tennis players to develop their potentials and to raise the standard of the game to an appreciable level.
The Minister said presently, about 81,000 students are billed to enter the country's tertiary institutions and over 200,000 pupils have completed Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) adding that education could only be beneficial to the country if the students are given the opportunity to contribute to nation building. He said it is in this light that he welcomes the plans and programmes of the "community" to help rejuvenate the sport, which could also create jobs in the near future. For starters, the team plans to send either one or two budding youngsters to the US, groom them and ensure that within the shortest possible time, they would be ranked as one of the best 25 top tennis players in the world and possibly win the Wimbledon Championship.
Mrs Barry said the beneficiaries would not only receive training in tennis but would be given a complete formal education so that they could become "all round adults". Mrs Barry said she observed the last time she visited the country that Ghanaians have a lot of potential but lacked equipment and exposure and expressed the hope that the support would help ameliorate the anomaly. The "Recreation Wish List Committee (RWLC), initiated the visit by the mother of the William Sisters who were unable to come with their mother due to tight schedule last year.
The World Tennis Stars- Serena and Venus- she said are scheduled to fulfil their promise of touring Africa including Ghana, Senegal and South Africa barring any hitch by the end of the year. The presentation of the equipment takes place on Tuesday at the Accra Sports Stadium. Present were Mr Joe Aggrey, Deputy Minister of Education Youth and Sports, Dr Owusu Ansah, Acting Chief Executive of the National Sports Council and Mr Jeff Abeasi, Chairman of the GTA.
