REVELATIONS AT ATHLETICS MEET ...New talents unearthed (NSEMPA, BACK PAGE)

By George Ernest Asare, Kumasi

“CATCHING them young and nurturing their potentials with the requisite technical expertise to ensure that they fully blossom to become national stars,” was how the Chief Executive of the National Sports Council, (NSC) Mr Prince Oduro Mensah, described a 13- year-old girl, who put up a splendid performance at the just ended National Athletics Championships, held at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium on April 11 and 12, 2008.

Young Talent
It was an advice Mr Oduro Mensah gave to the coaches handling the national athletes, who converged at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi last week. This was after he had witnessed an outstanding performance, by some of the young athletes, including that teenager, during the meet.
The girl, Miss Sarah Owu, who attends John Bosco Primary at Winneba, dismissed the bluff of her older competitors and became the toast of sports fans, when she defied all odds to win silver medals at both the 1500 and 5000 meter events.
When she joined her bigger competitors on the tracks for the beginning of the race, considering the fact that both the 1500 and 5000 meters were meant for athletes with big hearts, abundant stamina and sheer bravado, the spectators started murmuring, wondering how she would fit into the system, but she proved in the end that, in matters of sports, age and size play no role.
Success
Running for the first time on a tartan track and without any spikes to aid her, Sarah showed no complex, and succeeded in brushing aside all forms of opposition to win the hearts of the sports fans, including the executive members of the NSC and the Ghana Amateur Athletics Association (GAAA).
Millicent Boadi who had been in the competition for about a decade had to ran the race of her life, before winning both races, but it was only her experience acquired over the years on the tracks that gave her the advantage over the teenager, to win gold both the1500 and 5000 events.
The performance of Sarah Owu, was simply phenomenal, and it was therefore not surprising that she received a standing ovation and cash donations as a way of encouraging her, to fully develop her potentials for her own good and that of the nation.
Potential
Apart from Sarah, Okatakyie Afrifa of GUSA, who won the 100 meters event with a time of 10.35 seconds, was another youngster who showed a lot of potential in all the races that he took part in, and proved that, given the chance and encouragement, he would soon take Africa and the world by storm.
Lack of Competition
Other athletes like Shepherd Agbeko, Emmanuel Appiah-Kusi, Gifty Addy, Elizabeth Amolofo, Nathan Kpegbah and Victor Togo among others, also showed prominence in their respective races by winning medals and sent a strong message to the sports governing body that, like their compatriots abroad, they also needed a lot of competitions at home and exposure at the international level, to give them what it takes to market Ghana at the international arena.
Speaking in an interview with some of the athletes after the two day-competition, they were of the same accord that “ lack of local competitions were the main hindrance to their forward match to stardom.
“ We need a lot of competitions to enable us develop our potentials, but in Ghana, competitions are organised once a while, making it difficult for us to keep pace with our compatriots abroad who are always offered the chance to compete to enhance their performance.”
They pointed out that, the likes of Ohene Karikari (Sahara), Mike Ahey, Alice Anum (Baby Jet), J.A Addy, Joshua Owusu, Stanley Allotey, George Daniels, (strong bow legged) Rose Hart, Christiana Boateng, (flying queen) Hannah Afriyie, Grace Bakari and Rose Asieduwaa, among others, who distinguished themselves and won many medals at international competitions, “ came into the limelight due to the numerous local competitions organised for them in the country,”
Championships
“In their days, not less than five or six local competitions were organised in a year for them to out do each other and this always kept them in shape and regularised their training, but in our time, we are suffering from organisational hiccups, and this affects our performance,” they complained.
2,They said unlike the past where inadequate facilities in the country were used as the main excuse for not organising athletics competitions for the locally based athletes, “ the country now boasts of many facilities at Essipon, Tamale and Kumasi, so they have no excuse to deny us the chance to compete and keep ourselves in shape.”
Budget
The athletes pointed out that just like soccer, the government should show commitment by coming out with a budgetary requirement that would support the development of athletics in a more effective and efficient way.
This, they said, would ensure that the youth who had an interest in the sport would have the opportunity to develop their potentials before they got to their prime. They also urged the sports authorities to come out with a programme that would make it possible for both the local and foreign based athletes to compete regularly.
Sponsorship
According to the athletes, companies in the country seem to be in love with soccer to the detriment of other sporting disciplines in the country.
“ If companies that support soccer divert a little of their time, energy and resources to athletics and actively support its organisation on regular basis, this nation would come out with athletes who would be able to compete favourably with those with big names at the international scene,” they assured, adding, “ We have the potentials as you saw during this competition and we are only waiting for sponsorship in diverse ways from The Nestles, Guinness’s, Tigo’s, One Touch, SIC’s, ADB’s, Barclays’ Stanbic’s, ECOBANK’s and SGSSB’s among others, to market Ghana abroad, and we hope they will respond positively to our pleas.”
Commendation
In his closing remarks, Mr Oduro Mensah, commended the athletes for their outstanding performances and urged them to train regularly to keep themselves in good shape for future events.
He said it was equally important for their coaches, to develop the requisite techniques that would enable the athletes, develop their potentials in an efficient way to enhance their performances, especially at the international level.
With the right facilities in the country and the huge potentials among the youth spread across every hamlet in the country, the onus lay on the government, companies and individuals, to collaborate to help them nurture and develop their potentials to blossom, instead of idling around and wasting their time on unproductive ventures that mostly lead them into trouble.