Universities must help nurture sports talents - Sports Scientist

Professor Reginald Ocansey, a sports scientist has urged the universities to develop good programmes and facilities to harness talents in lesser- known sporting disciplines.

Professor Ocansey labeled the universities as citadels of sporting talents and made reference to the United States (US), where educational institutions nurture talents to lead international sporting events.

“Our universities already have the technical know-how and what is left to be done is putting together comprehensive policies to make sports attractive to students”, he noted.

Studies, he said, had shown that it was easier for university student athletes to be mentored and trained into good sportsmen and he called on the Ministry of Youth and Sports to liaise with the institutions to achieve that objective.

Prof Ocansey was speaking to the GNA Sports in Kumasi on the sidelines of a workshop on the Ghana Education Service’s (GES) Physical Education and Sports Policy.

The policy seeks to guide physical activity and education instructors on their core mandate - talent-hunt, coaching and organizing events.

It is also meant to serve as an accountability index for the instructors - to help assess their performances.

Prof Ocansey said quality participation in sports, particularly at the basic level was equally critical to overall development of the child because it inculcates in them the values of team work, endurance and discipline.

ernard Annan, GES Director of Sports, complained about the lack of sponsorship for most sporting activities of the schools and said this was stalling the organization of lesser-known sporting events.

“The nation cannot make any meaningful progress if this continues”, he noted, and appealed to the government to fund such events.