Distance Students Association of Ghana (DESAG) has held its Inter-Centre sports games to hunt for talented sports men and women across the 10 regions of Ghana.
The games, under the theme: "Strengthening DESAG unity through sports," was also to increase cohesion among the various centres.
The regional centres, with the exception of Volta, Ashanti and Western regions which had their games last month (April), undertook sporting events such as football, tennis, basketball, volleyball, as well as indoor games. The regional Inter-Center sports competition is precursor to the regional zonal games, which has been categorised into three zones, namely: Southern, Middle and Northern.
Speaking to reporters during a tour of some centers, the Central Regional Sports Organiser, Mr. Abdul Rahman Willie, said the competition would help DESAG to identify new sports talents, who have qualities to represent their respective regions in the zonal competition, which will be held in July 2 this year at the University of Ghana-Legon. He said those who would be selected would be groomed and provided with the necessary support to participate in the national DESAG games, which will come off in the Volta region in August 2018.
Mr. Willie said the Central region was grouped into zone A and B, comprising Swedru, Apam, Swesbu and Kasoa study centers for Zone A, while Zone B was made up of Asikuma, UCC, Assin Foso, Twifo Praso and Dunkwa-on-Offin study centres. He expressed concern about the low patronage, but, however, attributed it to the lack of transportation and probably due to the busy schedules of members, who are largely workers.
The National President of DESAG, Mr. George Amenyo, who toured the Central Regional zonal centres of the competition, expressed satisfaction with the organisation of the exercise. He was, however, worried about the lack of women’s participation in the games and gave an assurance that measures would be instituted to address it.
Mr. Amenyo indicated that the games would help the DESAG to churn out many good sportsmen and women, to win laurels for University of Cape Coast in local and international competitions. He appealed to sports men and women to train harder than before to achieve more success in their career.
He further appealed to corporate bodies and public-spirited individuals to assist in sponsoring the National DESAG Sports Competition. He encouraged members to use their leisure period to develop their God-given talents.
Mr. Amenyo was accompanied on the monitoring tour by the Central Regional President, Mr. Osei Derrick Boadu and Abukari Issaka, the Central Regional Financial Secretary.