* at July’s world championship *

31 paddlers of the national dragon boat team, Black Dragons have been camping for the past two weeks in Ada and are in high spirits as preparations for next month’s world championship in Hungary swing into full gear.

According to Farouk Moro, Technical Director of the Black Dragons, the camping near the Volta Estuary at Ada-Foah has been worthwhile and has seen tremendous improvement in all of 200m, 500m and 2000m which Team Ghana will compete for at the July 20-30 tournament.

“When we started, they were doing 57 seconds for 200 metres but within two weeks they have improved to 49 seconds. It’s good but our target is to get to 36 seconds as our standard time,” Farouk Moro told www.sportsinghana.comexclusively.

He added, confidently: “We hope to win first place in all the disciplines we will contest. The 200m and 2000m surely we are bringing their gold medals. It’s quite ambitious but we are confident.”

The 31 paddlers of which 25 are expected to make the trip along with seven officials, were selected from the various clubs which participated in the recent Ghana Dragon Boat and Rafting Association (GDBRA) national championships which took place in Ada. Accordingly, plans are underway to get the Black Dragons on a prior training tour before the actual championships in Hungary in the 3rd week of July. But even beyond the tournament, GBDRA officials are keen to provide the platform for paddlers and lovers of the sport to gain more.

“We have found lost potentials and the way forward is to do more by organizing the youth and train them in employable skills in addition to the fishing skills they have. We hope to establish them in aqua culture to sustain them in future. So we are appealing for support from the Sports Ministry and corporate Ghana to enable the boys excel. We feel we should be given equal attention,” stated GBDRA President, Hon. Rex Daniel Wussah.

Hon. Wussah, also DCE for Ada East, continued: “This is a local sport, not foreign. That’s why all the traditional leaders in Anlo and Ada are supporting it. It’s a legacy handed down by our forefathers and it’s not just about sports but also a huge tourism potential.”

He added: “We are hoping to host the first continental championship in Ghana next year. We are therefore leaving no stone unturned and calling on everybody to come and support us for we have a huge potential to win medals and glory for Ghana.”