Developing Our Lesser Known Sports, It Will Take a Concerted Effort – Gideon Hammond

Although this nation has a wealth of talent and skills, our greatest shortcoming is the infrastructure needed to sustain it. The required steps must be taken by successive governments to prioritise sport as a potential engine of economic growth.

Sport has the potential to bring in millions, if not billions, of revenue. “Football infrastructure and communication networks will not only generate jobs but also help entice investors and welcome taxpayers,” according to the statement. Africa has “the opportunity to provide chances for so many” through brilliance in sport, according to Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, whose nation has a sizable population of African heritage and has benefited economically from promoting cricket.
For decades, Western countries have poured money into the sports business because they recognise the value it brings to their economies. According to Deloitte’s 2019/2020 annual evaluation of the European Football market, the “Big Five” leagues generated EUR 25.2 billion in total revenue, with the German Bundesliga, the United Kingdom’s Premier League, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1 and Spain’s La Liga accounting for EUR 15.1 billion. With such profits, governments may spend money back into the sport business to achieve its mission, repeating the cycle and establishing an ecosystem that regenerates itself automatically every fiscal year.
In Ghana, you may want to ask yourself that, the monies we generate from participating in World Cup and other international tournaments, where do those monies go? We Sacrifice all other sporting activities and push the funds into our Senior Men’s Team to the detriment of the others.
Successive Government must develop better policies to foster the sports business while it is still in its infancy. I am happy and waiting to read GFA President Kurt E S Okraku led administration launched book titled Ghana’s Football DNA . I Look forward to reading from the Ghana Boxing Authority Ghana Handball Association, Ghana Hockey Federation Association and the other 41 recognized Sporting Associations / Federations a comprehensive document about the development of those Sports also.
There should be conscious effort to develop and expand the sports Industry, as the sports industry expands, so will the hotel, infrastructure, network, communications, education, and tourist sectors as well as other industries required to support it.
Successive Governments should take the following factors into consideration to successfully manage sports governance:

• Provide funding for the construction and upkeep of sport infrastructure.
• Create official governing bodies for culture and sport, and appoint board members and/or executives who are interested in sports not just Football.
• Present a set and ample budget to support a variety of national sports.
• Integrate sports (badminton, hockey, tennis and others) into the educational system to help shape the culture and love for it from an early age.
• Regularly assess sports-related development projects to make sure they are being carried out effectively
• Increased funding and tax breaks for businesses based on sports
• Celebrate and recognize those in the lesser-known sports like we do for Footballers.
• Put up a National Sports Museum (its Significance will be felt later)
Let me Quote the words of William Alexander Coleman a colleague Sport enthusiast “we need to start taking sports seriously again. We need to get the schools involved, we need to embark on some sort of civic education campaign where parents can also see the potential that sport has to change lives and communities. We seriously need to re-orient the population. Sport is powerful. Sport went as far as ending a civil war right next door to us, in Ivory Coast”.
South Africa has taken the lead in Africa by incorporating sport development into its Horizon 2025 strategy, which aspires to integrate sport and its ideals into daily life in order to create a country of champions. The importance of inclusiveness in reaching this goal cannot be overstated, which means that governments, Youth and Sports organizations, clubs, and athletes must collaborate to create and promote the sport sector and ensure that maximum profits are realized.
Ghana as a Country can do this. We have what it takes to develop our sports from football driven to even the Para-Sports Disciplines.