Minister for Youth and Sports Urged Corporate Organisations to Support the Sports Ministry.

The Minister for Youth and Sports, Mr Yusuf Mustapha has appealed to corporate organizations to support the ministry and its agencies in the various districts to help in the provision of sports facilities.

Mr Mustapha said for the country to achieve its vision of a shift from sports promotion to sports development among the youth, the provision of facilities for training and learning was paramount.

The Sports Minister appealed when he commissioned the first Cruffy Court in South Sahara Africa at Tema Mante Din School premises, which is equipped with facilities such as changing rooms, floodlights, AstroTurf, and disability friendly environment.

The Cruffy Court Tema Meridian project was constructed by the Cruffy Foundation in collaboration with the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), with funding from Cargill Ghana Limited.

Mr Mustapha indicated that the government in line with the sports development vision has since 2017 commissioned over 120 facilities constructed through public and private sector efforts.

He added that even though it was a great improvement over the two AstroTurf the country had as of 2016, it was not enough and therefore, appealed to stakeholders to support the vision and help in the provision of more facilities in the districts.

He called all key stakeholders in the sports ecosystem to come together to develop sports and to help the country to produce more sportsmen and women to lift the flag of Ghana high on the international scene.

Mr Aedo van der Weij, Managing Director of Cargill Ghana, said the commissioning of the state-of-the-art facility was historic as it was the first in Sub-Saharan Africa.

He added that it would go a long way to promote the development of sports among the youth of Tema, and for future generations saying, the project exemplified Cargill’s values of doing the right thing of putting people first as well as reinforced their commitment to improving livelihoods in communities.

Mr Yohane Amarh Ashitey, Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, said the importance of sports could not be over-emphasized and would make the youth of Kwesi Plange, Padmore, and Ashiboi electoral areas active.

Mr Ashitey said 16 local coaches have been trained as part of the project to support activities and model leadership values on the court and in the communities.

He said to ensure the facility serves its purpose for generations to come, a local steering committee has been set up and charged with the responsibility of maintaining the facility.

Story by Opamago Paparichy.