The School of Sports and Exercise Medicine at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) in partnership with the National Sports Authority (NSA) has announced the maiden Ghana Scientific Workshop from November 4-5.
The two-day workshop, to be held at the Cedi Auditorium at UHAS, is targeted at sports administrators, coaches, journalists, sports federations and other stakeholders to conduct a post mortem on Ghana’s participation at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
The view is to articulate a scientific approach that will guide Ghanaian teams and athletes to realise their full potential as they prepare for upcoming multi-sports events such as the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the 2023 Africa Games and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The workshop would be addressed by seasoned sports administrators drawn from the NSA and sports scientist from the School of Sports and Exercise Medicine at UHAS.
Topics to be covered include success indicators of Olympic level podium athletes, application of sports science and medicine in the management of elite athletes’ performance and history of Ghana at the Olympic Games.
Others include the Importance of Research Education in Sports Development, Grassroots or Talent Identification and Coaching and an evaluation of Ghana’s performance at the Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020.
Announcing the joint venture at the Accra Sports Stadium on Wednesday, Dean of UHAS, Prof Eric K. Ofori said as part of the University’s mandate to provide extension services, they were offering this service to bridge the gap between industry and the problem.
“As part of our extension services, we want to contribute effectively to the national discourse of sports activities in the country. It is on this basis that we, in partnership with the NSA, want to hold the maiden scientific conference to improve on Tokyo 2020.
“We all know our performance currently. I believe most of us, whether we are proud of our performance or not, is another thing but as people in academia, we have to set the discourse.”
On his part, Deputy Director General (Technical) at the NSA, Mr. Kwame Amponfi said that the NSA was pushing for the adoption of the Legislative Instrument (LI) to the Sports Act to make such partnerships critical.
According to Mr. Amponfi, the adoption would require the various federations to meet some certification and requirements for their coaches and trainers whilst also ensuring that they received regular training.
“We are looking at Ghana in the next 15 -20 years; where the evolution of sports science has become something that you cannot do without. And that no nation would risk its athletes to be handled by quack doctors, coaches and trainers that are half-baked.”
