Govt to build hockey pitches at public universities
After watching both the male and female national hockey teams conquer their opponents to lift the Hockey World League Round 1 trophies over the weekend, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Nii Lante Vanderpuye, announced that he would collaborate with corporate bodies to develop hockey pitches at the various public universities to make the sport more attractive to the youth.
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He gave an assurance that the needed assistance would be given to the Ghana Hockey Association (GHA) to expose the national teams to first-class hockey matches.
“ I am yet to receive any proposal from the GHA for the national teams to play international friendly matches.
“But exposing the teams to big-time hockey teams outside Ghana is very important because it will not only improve their games, but will also help them to qualify for both the Commonwealth Games and the World Cup, my ministry will give them the support when the need arises,” Nii Lante declared during a post-tournament interview with the media at the Theodosia Okoh Hockey Stadium, which hosted the tournament.
Ghana’s male team came from a goal down to beat arch rivals, Nigeria, 2-1 in the final game last Sunday, while the female side showed resilience to beat high flying Kenya by a lone goal in the final.
In their first match, the male national team whitewashed Namibia 7-1 to boost their confidence, while the women’s team also defeated Nigeria 2-0 in their opening game.
For their effort, both skippers of the national teams, Gertrude Inkoom and Salya Nsalbini, were adjudged the best players of the tournament in their respective divisions, and were provided with shields.
Two other players,Lydia Afriyie and Emmanuel Ankomah, also won the Young Player of the Tournament Awards in their respective divisions, a feat that won the heart of the Sports Minister.
Winning the tournament also qualified Ghana to play in the Hockey World League Round 2 tournament to be held in Spain and Bangladesh next year for the female and male teams respectively.
Nii Lante disclosed that before the tournament started, his ministry provided financial incentives to motivate the teams to deliver, saying with their convincing victories he would consult the government to reward the players.
