Mrs. Theodosia Okoh, the Octogerian artist, may be famous for designing the national flag of Ghana, but sports lovers will remember for the pioneering role she played in popularizing the game of hockey in the country.

Affectionately nicknamed “Joan of Arc of Ghana Sports” by the late affable Sports Director Ohene Djan, it was Mrs. Okoh who as chairperson of the Ghana Hockey association in the 60s exploited her marital connections to site the national pitch in the centre of the capital city.

Married to the then Secretary to the Cabinet Mr. E.K.Okoh , the keen hockey enthusiast was able to convince the hubby to use his influence at the government headquarters to keep the site very much against the wishes of town planners who had earmarked the area for the construction of government offices.

At this time, the national cricket oval near the Black Star Square had been destroyed to accommodate the Volta River Authority and Electricity Corporation head offices. The Accra Great Olympics Park adjacent to the Ambassador Hotel had been taken over by high office complex including the Hall of Technology.

Mrs. Okoh had insisted that the only way to generate interest in the relatively unknown hockey was to bring it near the people. The Makola market was just around the corner and curious traders and shoppers were gradually attracted to steal a glance to see the game of hockey being played in that busy area of Accra.

Those days the good hockey pitches in Accra were mostly at Achimota School, Police Depot, 37 Military Hospital pitch and the Cantonments pitch now transformed into the El Wak Stadium.

So by 1963, a national hockey pitch had been firmly established at the city centre where teams like Old Achimotans, British Council, Police, Armed Forces and especially Old Abuscodians made a lot of noise to draw public attention to the game.

When the Tema lorry station was created adjacent to the national hockey pitch in the early 80s, it really proved a threat to the existence of the national hockey pitch as the city planners regarded the pitch as out of place in their scheme of city planning which unfortunately made no provision for recreational activities.

Luckily by a twist of fate, certain influential people at the Accra City Council who were not too comfortable with the location of the national hockey pitch were put in charge of national sports administration and by 1999 the pitch had been a massive facelift suitable for even international matches.

If ten years later, 2009 to be precise, the national pitch has been wonderfully transformed into a modern international hockey stadium ready to host continental tournaments. Mrs. Theodosia Okoh should be given a place of honour when the history of Ghana hokey is told.

It is no accident of history that the transformation of the once grassless pitch into a modern stadium has taken place during the political administration of President John Atta Mills. The nation’s number one gentleman is a keen hockey enthusiast who played for both the national team and Old Achimotans in his youthful days alongside stalwarts like Saarah Mensah, K.N.Owusu, Jones Ofori Atta, Ohene Agyekum, Abel Edusei, Paul Nyame and many others. He later played for Citizens alongside Rojo Mettle Nunoo and others.

Hockey is definitely not a popular sport in the country but considering the amount of media coverage for this week’s Africa Cup tournament, the sheer beauty of the hockey stadium coupled with the Ghanaians’ penchant for adoring visitors should make patronage heavy.

South Africa, Nigeria, and Egypt all possess quality hockey stars and they should make the one week fiesta a tournament to remember.

The incentive of winners in both the men’s and women’s groups qualifying for next year’s world championships should be an added attraction for the players to put up their best.

Cheers everybody and keep loving sports.

From My Archives July 7th
JULY 7th 2008: A Senate bill to let the Nevada Athletic Commission seize a boxer’s entire purse for biting opponents or similar behaviour received final legislative approval.