Wa, (UW/R) Nov. 14 GNA - The Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) in conjunction with the Olympic Solidarity Sports has organized a five day training course for 21 sports administrators in the Upper West Region aimed at upgrading their skills to advance the ideals of the Olympic spirit in the region.

The sports administrators who were drawn from the security agencies and the Ghana Education Service discussed the history of the Olympics, its structures and movement.

Mr Sampson Bosompem Donkor, a Director at the Ghana Olympic Committee, in an address at the closing ceremony in Wa, regretted that since Ghana became a member of the Olympics fraternity in 1952, it had not been able to find suitable sportsmen and women to participate in some of the disciplines in the games. He said that the training courses the GOC has embarked throughout the country in the past years was therefore aimed at improving on the full participation of the country's sportsmen and women in most of the disciplines.

Mr Donkor therefore urged the administrators to used the skills they have acquired from the course to help unearth talents through the formation of Olympic Clubs in the schools and at workplaces as well as in the communities to encourage the youth to develop interest in sporting activities.

"Go into the communities and workplaces and inject new ideas in the running of sports and let us see a new turn in the administrative performance that would translate in a better performance of your region at national sporting activities and that of Ghana in the Olympics games", Mr Donkor advised.

Dr Henry Augustine Pufaa, National Coordinator of GOC told the administrators that it was worrying for the region to always take the last or second but last positions at national sporting events. "The end results that the GOC wants to see is for the region to rise to the top in all national sporting activities, Dr Pufaa stressed, adding: "This you can achieve by working in cohesion and collaboration and sharing of ideas to move sports development forward". Dr Pufaa appealed to the authorities in the region to try to utilize the skills and expertise of professionals from the region to help in the development of the region to benefit the people. He said sports development in the region was not the best and charged the authorities to come out with their own vision and mission for sports to grow for their benefit.

Mr. Cletus S. Paaga, Upper West Regional Director of Education called for the reactivation of the North West Games and the introduction of open sporting activities to encourage the youth to participate to unearth talents for the region. Some of the administrators suggested the involvement of sports teachers of the Ghana Education Service as well as sports men and women in the training colleges since they have more and direct access to the children's upbringing. They also appealed to the GOC to help in the development of sporting facilities and the provision of equipment for schools. The participants were given certificates and a management manual book valued at 300 US dollars each.