National Paralympic team made strides
The year 2015 could best be described as a difficult year for the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) in relation to sports development and promotion mainly due to financial and logistics challenges. That notwithstanding, the association managed to make some strides both locally and internationally with the help of corporate organisations and philanthropies.
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Earlier in March, the NPC successfully organised its 2nd National Delegates and Electoral Congress in Accra, where the Bishop Cornelius Adjah Cofie-led administration was elected and sworn into office to oversee the day-to-day administration of the association.
Regarding national and international events, the NPC organised a nationwide trial and selection exercise which was conducted between the months of June and July 2015, as part of efforts to select athletes towards the 2015 All Africa Games (AAG).
At the end of it all, 30 athletes were identified and invited to final trial and selection in Kumasi, f
The NPC later mobilised resources and brought the 25 selected athletes to Accra for medical screening in August 2015. The athletes and six officials remained in Accra and continued preparations until the entire Ghana team departed to the AAG.
For the first time, Para–Sport was well represented at the games with the inclusion of visually impaired and powerlifting athletes alongside the usual wheelchair racing athletes. At the end of the games, Ghana’s para-team won three silver medals through Patrick Obeng (2 medals) and Botsyo Nkegbe (1 medal). Besides the medals, 17 new athletes were classified at the games.
The Deaf Football Association also organised its maiden Deaf Football Gala at the Accra Sports Stadium in August, where the winners were selected to participate in the 5th Edition of the West Africa Deaf Football Tournament in Lome, Togo. At that competition, Ghana won the Golden Boot Award as the top scorer of the tournament.
Additionally, the Ghana Blind Sports Federation successfully organised the National Goalball Championship at Essipong in the Western Region in November. Nine Regions took part in the competition in which Volta and Brong Ahafo regions emerged winners in the male and female events respectively.
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Afterwards, the female Goalball team travelled to Seoul, Korea for the International Blind Sports Association (IBSA) World Goalball Championship. However, due to technical and administrative challenges, the team could not compete in the main championship, but had opportunity to play some friendly games to access their strength and standard.
With support from three organisations, namely Social Security and National Insurance Trust (Gh¢10,000.00), National Lottery Authority (Gh¢5,000.00 worth of T-shirts) and Australian High Commission in Accra (Gh¢10,000.00 – meals), the NPC observed this year’s International Day of Persons with Disability (IDD) with a one-day competition which came off successfully on December 3 at the Accra Sports Stadium.
About 600 persons with disabilities from over 10 different disability institutions and organisations across the country took part in the celebration which was themed: “Inclusion Matters: Access and Empowerment for People of all Abilities.” The association used the occasion to inaugurate and swear into office Executives of Wheelchair Basketball Federation as well as Ghana Deaf Football Association. The official fund raising towards Rio 2016 Paralympic Games was also launched. Hon. Vincent Oppong Asamoah, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, and a delegation from the Australian High Commission in Accra graced the occasion.
On clubs and individual athlete performance, 3 athletes, namely Maclean Dzidzienyo, Yakubu Abubakar and Aishetu Seidu led by Botsyo Nkegbe travelled to South Africa and competed in the 2015 OCC Competition and won 4 medals. Also, in May 2015, Botsyo Nkegbe, Maclean Atsu and Yusif Amadu also competed in the USA 2015 Desert Challenge Tournament and returned with 4 medals. These performances have currently placed Botsyo and Yakubu in the minimum qualification standard for the Rio 2016 Games.
During the year under review, the NPC also organised various workshops for its members in Kumasi and Accra to boost their morale, some of which included the workshop for 30 elite athletes and NSA Secretary Generals and Blind Sports Workshop. Two other para-powerlifting and para-taekwondo workshops which took place in Hungary were sponsored by the Agito Foundation Ghana. It is worth mentioning that the International Paralympic Committee has accepted Para-Taekwondo as one of the disciplines to feature in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.