The Ghana Athletics Association (GAA) has congratulated Ghana’s athletes and coaches for the gallant display that saw Team Ghana register among the medal-winning nations at the 2019 African Games.
A statement from the GAA communications department commended the athletes for their performance and general composure even in the Games Village.
“Our sincere thanks also go to the leadership of our Athlete Commissions (Ghana- and Foreign) for their tireless efforts in working with the GAA to ensure their readiness and a relatively successful outcome at the Games,’ the statement said.
It said “it is imperative to mention that the athletes have been part of the GAA’s grassroots athletics development programme that took root almost a decade ago; literally, all of the athletes have participated in local and international meets organised or facilitated by the GAA over the past decade.
The statement mentioned the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) and other agencies, including the Ghana Education Service and the Ghana University Sports Association for their support in building the structure for the sport.
“Special mention must be extended to the coaches and technical departments of the various schools, as well as to the non-affiliated, personal coaches who toil day and night to train the athletes. The financial support for the system has primarily come from a number of corporate sponsors, including the Maria Tsakos Foundation, EventPR, and rlg, Sea and Shore, Interplast Ghana, Africanus.net, Cocoa from Ghana, Bank of Ghana, Ghana Commercial Bank and Just Because Fitness, as well as a host of private individuals. We salute them all and hope that they see these victories as theirs.”
It also thanked Team Athletics’ leader at the Games, Mr Bawah Fuseini, who doubles as the Chief Executive Officer (Secretary General) for both the GAA and the Confederation of African Athletics Association Zone II board.
The statement acknowledged the $3,430 from Just Because Fitness (JBF) and $4,913 advanced from an unnamed individual to enable the women’s team attend the Doha qualifiers at the IAAF World Relays in Japan.
It said the GAA’s focus will now be shifted to the 2019 World Championships where both male and female relay teams register in the Top-16 teams in the World.
They will be joined by individual automatic qualifiers like Joseph Paul Amoah, Nadia Eke, and Josephine Anokye, as well as five others who might get the nod when the qualification deadline expires next week.
