Tema: Revival of hockey in school feasible - GASSA ZONE 4

The call for the revival of hockey competitions in various schools and colleges has been met with a varied response from some Physical Education Instructors within the Tema and its environs.

Some members of the Greater Accra Schools Sports Association (GASSA) Zone four, comprising Ashaiman, Chemu, Gbetsile, Manhean, Methodist, Nungua, Our Lady of Mercy Senior High, Tema Presbyterian, and Tema Senior High Schools described the call as “laudable and feasible”.

In separate interviews with the GNA Sports at Tema, some Physical Education Instructors stressed for the injection of resources to revive and revamp hockey.

Mr. Richard Akpokavie, a former President of the Hockey Association expressed worry over the gradual decline of hockey at the highest level, and attributed the problem to the absence of the right structures to scout for prospects from the various schools and institutions to feed into the National Hockey Team.

Mr. George Mireku, P. E. Instructor at Our Lady of Mercy Senior High School, said “It is a laudable and feasible call but schools in Tema have not been competing in hockey for some years now”.

He attributed the problem to the lack of appropriate facility in the Tema environs to accommodate hockey was the reason schools in Tema were no longer competing.

Mr. Mireku said, the Tema Sports Stadium, charge schools huge amount when they make attempts to use the place for games, an amount the schools were unable to pay.

He appealed to the government and corporate bodies to support the discipline from the local level.

Mr. Ebenezer Siomoni Otutey, Instructor at the Tema Secondary School told GNA Sports that the zone was unable to organize hockey games because the schools have lost interest in the spots.

He said, students, exhibit apathy towards the discipline, stating, however, that “the lack of resources to make the discipline available and accessible remains the challenge”.

He also appealed to the government to enact a policy that would enable various corporate organizations supporting sports in schools enjoy some form of tax reliefs, such a policy would serve as incentives for corporate bodies to support school sports.