Ping Pong league need more sponsorship
The Director of the 2017 Stanbic Bank-Graphic Sports ping pong champions, Tesano Spinners, Charles Tachie Menson Jnr has appealed for sponsorship for table tennis clubs in the country to sustain the league.
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His call follows the financial hassle his outfit, Tesano Spinners, went through before achieving such a great feat to annex the league title.
According to Tachie Menson, he, together with team manager, Nathaniel Somuah, had to raise funds from their own pockets to cater for the needs of the Nigerian imports who helped them win the league.
"We struggled a lot and had to sometimes adopt absurd ways to get funds for the team," Tachie Menson told the Graphic Sports in an interview at the team's camp at Tesano in Accra last Sunday.
The league, which is national in nature, incorporates both the security services and civilian teams.
Mr. Tachie-Menson (right) presents an award to Nathaniel Somuah (left) Manager of Tesano Spinners
While the security services teams are cushioned by their parent outfit in terms of remuneration, the individuals who own the other clubs have to raise money for their teams’ upkeep and they struggled to sustain and keep players on a permanent basis.
To end that struggle, Tachie-Menson wants the Ghana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) and the National Sports Authority to seek more sponsorship for the blossoming league as what Stanbic and Graphic Sports provide are inadequate.
He noted that table tennis league has come to stay and is calling for government seriousness towards the sport.
Meanwhile, Spinners lead players, Nigerians Ahmed Bello and Ayo Udoh Ifiok have called on authorities to acquire better training equipment and tools for national team players.
According to them Ghana has a vast potential in ping pong, but lack the requisite coaches and better training facilities.