200 girls undergo basketball clinic in Accra

Over 200 girls drawn from various Senior High Schools and basketball academies in the country on Saturday, October 15, 2022, underwent Basketball Clinic and Basic Life Support training. The participants were drawn from institutions such as Aburi Girls Senior High School, Chiefs Academy (Kumasi), St. Joseph's CYO, University of Ghana, and Dunk! Grassroots, Basketball School Academy (BSA), Eagles Basketball Academy (Koforidua), Basketball Unite Academy, Hoops Care (Cape Coast) and Cedar Oak Basketball Academy. The training which was an initiative of the Ghana Basketball Association and FIBA saw the beneficiaries put through their paces and equipped with skills in dribbling and shooting. Officials from the International Sickle Cell Centre, Ghana Anesthetists Association, (BC Medicals, RegEmp, and Operation Smile Ghana also sensitized the students and players about how to provide emergency life support on the court. Speaking to the media at the event, Ato Van-Ess, the President of the Ghana Basketball Association said that the purpose of the clinic was to create excitement and interest in basketball among young girls. He said his outfit was very much interested in helping Ghana meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 which concerns gender equality and SDG 3 which aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all. "We want to use this program to whip up the interest of girls to participate in basketball, this is part of a key strategy to develop the sport in Ghana," Mr Van-Ess said. "We hope that in the next three to five years we will get more girls and women participating in basketball at the regional level". He added that it was important for young children to know basic first aid skills so that they can respond adequately when there is an emergency at home, school or during sports.