Budding athletes need more than just scholarships — Nkansah
A former Ghanaian athlete, Eric Nkansah Appiah has charged the Ghana Athletics Association (GAA) to look beyond just securing scholarships for budding athletes, but provide means of support for them to be able to effectively combine school and sports when they travel.
Nkansah has also charged the GAA to come up with more pragmatic programmes that will help current national athletes to build on their experience and exposure to help them deliver at international competitions and win laurels for the nation.
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The former national sprinter told the Graphic Sports he was worried Ghana’s athletics was declining at a fast rate because there was no programme to help local athletes neither was there much support for budding athletes who get scholarship to travel abroad.
“ It looks like athletics is in a coma at the local scene. Yes, there is the Inter schools and colleges competition and now, I hear the GAA comes up with some circuits, but are these good enough to give us athletes who can compete at the international scene?
Nkansah, who was part of Ghana’s 100x4 relay team that holds the national record at 38.12 seconds earned at the 1997 World Championships in Athens, was also worried that there were not many highly specialised athletics coaches in Ghana at the moment.
“Everything about Ghana athletics seems to be on the decline. Facilities, coaches and even public interest and support are on a decline. It is sad to see Ghana athletics struggle to be in the limelight at the international scene all because there is no programme to take our athletes and keep them there,” added Nkansah, who in the late 1990s and early 2000s dominated the sprints scene with athletes such as of Aziz Zakari, Leo Myles Mills.
Nkansah expressed concern about the manner in which budding athletes were sent out on scholarships abroad, particularly, to the USA as that seem to affect the careers of those athletes in the long run.
“It is good for the athletes to gain scholarships and travel to improve their lot, unfortunately, beyond the scholarship, there is very little support for these athletes, so in no time, they abandon their careers to concentrate on their studies or get some part time work to survive.
He said athletes who manage to get on Olympic scholarship are able to make it and said it was that which helped an athlete like Margaret Simpson to excel in her heptathlon event during her prime, but those who juggle academic work with training without financial support are unable to make a headway.
