No Reception for Hockey Team

Ghana's U-21 hockey male and female teams zoomed home from Egypt, after grabbing bronze apiece in the just-ended Africa Junior Hockey Fiesta, last Saturday evening.

Amazingly, there was not a single official, at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, to welcome them after their exploits in Cairo, Egypt.

This Sports R eporter overhead one of the players asking one of his mates, "So no official is here to welcome us, would they have done the same to a football team?"

His chilling words sent shivers deep down my spine, and I think the earlier our 'big men' attach equal attention to the other sports, as much as is given to soccer, the better it will be for us, as a nation.

There is no way one can compare soccer to hockey, in terms of the former's large following.

But, giving the 'lesser known' sports, a fraction of what goes into football, would go a long way to strengthen, and make the 'lesser known' ones, popular as well.

The male side demonstrated brilliance in their first two games, going past Kenya in a keenly contested 3-2 game, and the extra mile to maul Libya.

The unblemished performance carved a niche for them, making their next opponents, South Africa, to approach their game cautiously.

Although Ghana lost 2-3 to the defending champions, South Africa, many, including the South Africa coach, Kurt T., praised Ghana's team saying, "The score line in the clash means nothing to me, rather the quality of game demonstrated by the two sides, points to the fact that Africa hockey has come of age."

Again, one cannot equate soccer to hockey, but the sharp contrast between what footballers receive as bonus, to that of hockey players, is a clear demonstration of the total neglect of the noble sport.

For winning bronze, the players received $200 as winning bonus, an amount which comes no where near what, even, the Black Starlets receive after winning just a game, let alone talk about the purses of the senior national soccer teams.

Personalities alike Messrs Oko-Nikoi Dzanie, Chairman, Ghana Hockey Association (GHA), Richard Akpokavie, GHA's Vice Chairman, Nii Quaye Kumah, Secretary General of the Africa Hockey Federation (AHF), among others, have sacrificed over the years, just to see to the development of hockey.

Hockey is taking firm roots in countries as South Africa, Egypt and Kenya, because of the importance the governments of those countries attach to the sport.

The size and magnitude of the Cairo International Hockey Stadium, suggests the level of importance they attach to the sport. It's a whole edifice, which that can accommodate close to 20,000 spectators.

Hockey, over the years, has proven beyond doubt, that given the needed support would bring honour to Ghana, and should be supported to the fullest.