GOC boss lauds Tsakos Foundation for promoting athletics in Ghana
Professor Francis Dodoo, the president of the Ghana Athletics Association (GAA) and Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC), has lauded the Maria Tsakos Foundation, for assisting Ghana to host major competitions for junior athletes over the past seven years.
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He said the support had been most helpful in a country working to rebuild its pipeline of athletic talent.
Speaking to Ghana News Agency Sports in Accra, he said through the benevolence of the foundation Ghana had been able to host major competitions for junior athletes and sustained the scouting for talents and training of athletes aged between 16 to 20 years.
He said through the GAA’s Development Fund, the Sea and Shore Company Ltd was supporting the GAA’s fund to support underprivileged athletes to gain an education
He admonished prospective athletes to take their training seriously in order to have opportunities for a tertiary education.
Prof Dodoo said it was imperative for sportsmen and women to save or invest for the future, when they would no longer be fit to earn a living through their talents.
He said sponsorship for athletes had been a major challenge in Ghana and which was eventually affecting talents and he thanked RLG, Tullow Ghana, Unibank, and Tsakos for investing so much to support the association’s activities in 2011 and 2012.
He disclosed that this year Cowbell sponsored a major competition for athletes spanning between 13 and 15 years, while Nestle was catering for those between seven and 12 years.
The Tsakos Foundation is behind the establishment of St Nicholas Preparatory School, located at Tema Manhean in the Greater Accra Region, catering for underprivileged and deprived children in the sprawling fishing community.
The school project was initiated in February 2012 with the motto: “Every child has a right to education.”