To mark my 47th anniversary as a professional sports journalist I present to readers my agenda for the rejuvenation and sports development in Ghana.

YOUTH SPORTS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
There is no doubt that competitive sport is for the youth. I therefore recommend seriously the adoption of a national sports policy of catching them young.
Sports and physical education should be given special attention at first and second cycle institutions and students who successfully combine academic work with sports may be offered scholarship as incentives.

There should be a clear emphasis on the importance of sports in schools. While sports can be played by people of all ages it is of utmost importance to promote sports at the earliest possible age in order to encourage a life time habit of involvement in sports.

First and second cycle sports education is only the first step in a lifetime enjoyment of sports. We need to look to schools to do more to promote sports among their students. The best means of doing that is by encouraging links between schools and sports clubs.

In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the Sports Council should ensure that schools and colleges have qualified sports masters. I suggest the introduction of the sports mark scheme – a recognition award to schools with effective policies for promoting sports.

The National Schools and Colleges Annual Sports Festival which in the past unearthed a lot of talents should be firmly put on the national sports calendar.

There should be a national sports development programme categorising the various sports disciplines into a list of priorities. Soccer, boxing and athletics should be given priority. Tennis, table tennis, hockey, basketball and volleyball will be in the second category. All other disciplines should form the third group.

Amateur boxing being a combat sport should be given special attention. The various boxing clubs that are usually poorly equipped should be assisted with equipment.

NATIONAL SPORTS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
Young amateurs should be encouraged to gain enough international experience before turning professional. This will really strengthen the national team. The rush for young inexperienced amateur boxers into the paid ranks must be discouraged. It does not benefit the boxers in the long run and it also weakens the building of a strong national amateur boxing team.

The Ghana Boxing Authority should be consulted to assist in this smooth transfer of amateur boxers into the paid ranks.

In consultation with the National Olympic Committee, the health needs of the amateur boxers should be given prior attention. The clubs should be assisted with good technical men who will give the young amateurs the required type of basic boxing techniques.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
The sports development programme should cover the upgrading of all playing fields in first and second cycle schools. In the villages and small towns one needs only a bulldozer to make the fields fit for sporting activities.

I propose the setting up of a National Playing Fields Committee to take care of all playing fields and sports facilities in the country.

I seriously recommend that efforts should be made to acquire a new site for the long awaited Olympic Complex in Accra, since the old site at Abeka has been taken over by encroachers. The past government is reported to have acquired a new site and actual drawings and design work completed. This must be pursued. The government could source international funding for this project.

FOOTBALL CLUBS
Companies and business houses should be encouraged to finance and own sports facilities for public use. I recommend to government that the management of football clubs particularly the top division clubs be placed in competent hands. This is to help reduce hooliganism often associated with this most patronised sport. It is my belief that if soccer is well provided for, the less popular games could be developed on the wings of soccer as is done in most North African countries.

For a start selected top clubs like Asante Kotoko, Hearts and Goldfields should be assisted to form athletics, boxing and table tennis divisions.

The National Soccer League is 50 years old but we still do not have any blueprint for developing it. In collaboration with the GFA the league should be structured in such a way that companies will be attracted to adopt some of the clubs. Since these clubs are privately owned and sponsored by private individuals they should be encouraged to run as business enterprises in the real sense of the word. Government should give policy guidelines.
The annual talent hunting National Sports Festival should be revived.
The annual traditional sports fixtures with our neighbouring countries, especially Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire which has been stopped for more than two decades should be revived. These competitions do give our sportsmen and sportswomen the necessary international exposure before big tournaments like the African Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.

INSURANCE – RETIREMENT FUND
Most of our sporting heroes end up as destitute at the end of their sporting career. I propose the formation of a national advisory and guidance board to draw up a programme that will check this anomaly. Membership will include an insurance consultant, psychologist, investment consultant, lawyer and a journalist.
The board should be tasked to work out the modalities for an insurance scheme and a retirement fund for sportsmen and sportswomen who once donned the national colours.
The active sportsmen and sportswomen will be expected to contribute a small percentage of their bonuses and allowances into the proposed retirement fund.

WOMEN SPORTS
Women’s sports should be given national recognition. Young girls should be encouraged to take to sports. This will be good training for them. They will get occupied and not go wayward. There should be public education among young girls to disabuse the notion that women who take to sports can’t have children.

SPONSORSHIPS
Many sports now rely on sponsorship to stage events at the highest level and to bring into sports money that can trickle downwards. Sponsorship is valuable not only to the high-profile sports that attract large, live television audiences but to less popular sports that might not otherwise be able to stage competitive events: The sports authorities should encourage partnership with the mass media especially television in order to build the necessary media platform for sports marketing which will attract sponsorships.

Sports thrive on media exposure and the partnership between National Sports Council and media houses will also go to motivate, recognise and encourage the healthy pursuit of the ideas of sports among the youth.

International competitions should be used as windows to showcase the prowess and potentials of Ghana in culture and tourism. In this regard the sports authorities should work in collaboration with other Government Agencies such as Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Ministry of Tourism as well as the National Commission on Culture. Indeed trade can be promoted during such competitions.

MASS SPORTS
Sports enrich the lives of those who enjoy it and it contributes to our health and well-being. It offers the opportunity to have our competitive instincts, although, for many, it is simply fun and relaxing. Sports as a leisure pursuit should be encouraged among corporate and community groups, associations and clubs in order to build a fitness conscious and healthy population in a sound society. The economic benefits of such a policy will be positive and pervasive.

ELITE SPORTS
The so-called elite sports such as golf, badminton, polo, cricket etc should be encouraged among the well to do in society in order to spin off some of the resources of these groups for the less endowed in society. Because they are self-funded by individuals and corporate bodies, developing them will not be a burden on the sports authorities but the benefits in international competitions will be for the individual and the entire nation.

SATELLITE TEAM BUILDING
Ghanaians living abroad should be encouraged to fully exploit training facilities in their host countries. This would enable us build very competitive sportsmen and sportswomen in all disciplines to complement our home grown talents.

FINANCING
Apart from the usual budgetary allocation it has been proved worldwide that a national lottery on sports has a great impact on sports development. In Britain for example, it has been a catalyst for a renaissance in sporting activity at all levels throughout the country and has spectacularly increased investment in sports.

Ghana would therefore have to review the operations of the national sports lotto which according to available information has not benefited sports development in any way. It will be advisable to have a national sports lottery sanctioned by the Ministry of Finance.

CONCLUSION
Sports is an important part of the national life. We should aim at a sporting culture that encourages the very best to reach their full potential and inspire others of less ability to do likewise.