GHANAIAN ATHLETE IN NEED OF FINANCIAL HELP

Flings Owusu Agyapong

Ghanaian Olympic athlete Flings Owusu Agyapong is out imploring all who have the means to come to her rescue in the financial battle, as she hopes to make a mark ahead of the IAAF Championship in China next year. 

Flings who represented Ghana at the 2014 Common Wealth Games in Glasgow wants the money to fund her accommodation, feeding and travel expenses at competitive meets, to make the qualifying mark for the IAAF in August 2015. 

Below is a message from the Sprint Queen.

"I am raising money to get to meets so I can qualify for the IAAF world championship of athletics taking place in Beijing China in August 2015, where I will compete for Ghana. In order to qualify I need to be able to get to meets to run the qualifying time. Your donation will go towards lodging, food and travel expenses while competing all over the country (and outside) in order to run the qualifying times".

"I would greatly appreciate anything you can do to help me in my quest to compete at the world and international level. No donation is too small! Please share this with your family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and help me network with companies and organizations that might be interested in helping me with my journey".

"In 2014 I competed at the world Indoor Championships that took place in Sopot, Poland, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland and the African Championships in Marrakech Morocco. I currently train in Syracuse, NY".

Please visit the website below for more !
http://fjowusua.wix.com/flingsjoyner

http://www.gofundme.com/i77n08 

Photos of Flings Owusu Agyapong 

Ghana's Relay Team in Glagwo, Flings (right)

Flings in a heat during Common Wealth Games 2014

 

KFC FOOTBALL BEAT FINALS

Kids who thronged the El Wak Sports Stadium on Saturday 1st November 2014 were treated to a special time as Famous Chicken Restaurant, KFC held the finals of the Football Beat. Not only were kids attracted to the park, guest and other participants were thrilled with massive skills on display. "Hip Life Grand Papa" Reggie Rock Stone turned up and had a "great time with the kids". Also present were ace broadcaster Kwame Fakye, Jeremi amongst other great personalities.

See Photos of the "KFC Football Ball Beat" below.

Medal table for the Matches

 

Kids engaged in Fussball Games

Games about to Kick off

 

Some of the Kids in 5-a-side action

 

Under -14 team getting ready for action

Under -12 sides in action

Live 91.9 Business developer as coach issuing instructions from the touch lines

50KM ULTRA MARATHON 2014 LAUNCHED

Runathon Ghana Foundation has launched the 2014 edition of the 50 km Ultra Marathon under the theme; Keep Fit for Life.

The 2^nd edition of the longest distance athletics competition in Ghana will take place on 29^th of November this year.

This year’s race has been designed to accommodate all athletes and interested persons. 

There would be a 50 km flat race for men and women while Para cycling would also have a place. 

Non athletic persons will also take part in the corporate run which gives allows five (5) people to do the competition at relay. 

President of Runathon Ghana Foundation, Mr Eric K. Adae said 

“the relay team would be placed within a distance of 10km apart to make the 50km”. 

“Athletes will undergo medical screening before they are allowed to take part in the event to avoid complications”. 

This was disclosed by Dr. Mavis Asare who will head a team of medical personnel for the race.

Winner of the race in the men’s category will take home GH ¢ 2,000 cash prize while the second and third would be awarded GH ¢1,500 and GH ¢ 1,000 respectively. 

There would also be prizes and other awards including medals for all categories. Athletes can join the program by picking up registration forms at stadium.

SPORTS MINISTER DENIES "FAMILY BUSINESS" ALLEGATIONS

Sports Minister Elvis Afriyie Ankrah

Minister for Youth and Sports, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah has rejected claims he has used his office for "family business".

The Minister who is outraged by reports of him involving his family in the affairs of the ministry, has asked perpetrators to desist from peddling such falsehood.

Mr. Afriyie Ankrah was accused following the appointment of Mr. Horace Ankrah to a committee that will oversee arrangements for transportation of supporters to Brazil during the World Cup.

The reports drew some level credibility with his younger brother, Yaw Ampofo Ankrah also very much involved in the sports ministry's activities.

But the Youth and Sports Minister at a meeting with the press to brief them on plans for the World Cup said, "Mr. Horace Ankra is not my family member".

"He is Ga with Ankrah, I am Ashanti Ankrah so there is no relation at all", he added.

GHANA GRAB 9 MEDALS FROM AFRICAN YOUTH GAMES

Ghana won 9 medals following the 10 day African Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana. The Ghanaian team of athletes began the games on a bright note winning 6 six straight silver medals in the boys and girls categories of the weightlifting competition. Ghana’s Christian Amoah and SWAG awardee Juliana Arko came close to taking the first prise but had to settle for Silver in Snatch, and Clean and Jerk. Ghana’s performance in other disciplines from that time took a downward spin. Top seed Abraham Ayitey failed to grab any medal and neither could inspire his teammates to success in the straight and mixed doubles of the Badminton events. Frank Akuffo led a team of cyclists who crushed half way the road race in cycling. The team and individual time trials could not offer any hope of a prise as Cyclists failed to match their competitors. Marian Adom Amankwah and Isaac Amoako also failed in their bid to do some restoration with table tenis. The fading glory was in steep decline as Ghana’s celebrated young swimmer Ophelia Swayne slightly missed out on winning a medal the various swimming events. But perhaps as expected for athletics to redeem some pride for the Ghanaians, it probably lived up to the billing. Janet Mensah won silver in the girl’s 100m final in a time of 12.03 secs to start the process of damage control. She had support in that bid as Martha Bissah snatch a bronze medal in the girl's 800m final in a time of 2.09.50. This brought to 8, the number of medals won by the Ghanaian athletes at the games as of games day 8. Precious Attipoe completed the streak with a silver medal in the boy's triple jump with a leap of 15.43m.
Ghana’s Felicia Frimpong put up a spirited performance to place fourth in the girl’s long jump event after jumping 5.59m in her last attempt.


Happy Abruyah came 6th in heat 2 of the girl’s 400m in a time of 60.26.
Ghana's Frank Akuffo placed 25th overall in the Individual Time Trial event at the ongoing African Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana on Tuesday.
Issac Amoako and Eva Adom Amankwah lost their quarter final game in the mixed doubles after going down 2:0 to Egypt on Tuesday.
Ghana's Ophelia Swayne missed the chance to advance in the Swimming competition at the ongoing African Youth Games in Botswana after placing 23rd and 21st overall in the women's 50m freestyle and the 50m butterfly events respectively.
Ghana's Ophelia Swayne missed the chance to advance in the Swimming competition after placing 23rd and 21st overall in the women's 50m freestyle and the 50m butterfly events respectively.
Elsewhere, Abigail Kwarteng came 7th in the girl’s High Jump event finishing with 1.50m while Anastasia Mensah exited the girl’s Javelin throw in the first round.

African Youth Games : Day 5

Ghana's Christian Amoah (left) on the medal podium

Ghana’s two medallists in the men’s and women’s weightlifting competition are set to be rewarded with two more medals each after an anomaly was detected by the African Weightlifting Federation.

The athletes were apparently not given the standard three medals each for placing second in the snatch and, clean and jerk categories during their medal ceremonies due to a shortage of medals.

According to the Head coach of the Weightlifting team, Albert Abotsi, after competing in both the snatch and clean and jerk competitions, the athletes should have been given three medals based on their final placements in the three different event categories: i.e. the snatch, clean and jerk and also for the total amount of weight they lifted.

Albert Abotsi revealed that Team Ghana has already been notified of the decision by the African Weightlifting Federation to present the four medals to the athletes on Tuesday, 27 May in Gaborone.

This will bring Team Ghana’ total medal haul to six after Day 5 of the Games.

Badminton:

There was more disappointment from Team Badminton in the singles events on day five of the Games, after number one seed Abraham Ayittey and his colleagues failed to make it to the semi finals and medal zones of their respective events.

In an uncharacteristic fashion, Ayittey was defeated by Mauritius’s top seed, Paul Julien in two straight sets 21:15 21-13.

There was more heartache for Ayittey as he and his partner Mohammed Adam missed the chance to win a medal in the men’s doubles after losing to Botswana’s Tsepo Perekisi and Tumisang Olekantse 21:18 21-19 in two closely fought sets.

It seemed fatigue had finally taken its toll on the youngsters because soon after, the pair of Ayittey and Diana Archer also lost out on an opportunity to medal when they lost the mixed doubles quarter finals to their counterparts from Mauritius, Paul Julien and Allet Aurelie 21-11 21-15.

In another mixed doubles encounter, Ghana’s Mohammed Adam and Victoria Asmah made a bright start in their game against Egypt’s Youssef Essam and Farida Mostafa, winning the first set before succumbing 14-21 21-17 23-21.

Diana Archer made a bold attempt to bring some hope to Ghana’s fading medal hopes when she came back from a set down to level 1:1,  but she could do very little to stop Nigeria’s Dorcas Adesokan from winning the third set in the women’s singles 1/16^th tie 21-17 7-21 21-17.

Table Tennis:

Team Table Tennis recorded an impressive outing in the mixed doubles event as Isaac Amoako and Eve Adom Amankwah qualified for the quarter finals of the event.

The pair beat Zambia 2:0 but lost 2:1 to Nigeria to advance. They will get to know their next opponent after the draw is made on Tuesday morning.

The duo are billed to be in action later on in the day for a place in the semi finals and a chance to medal.

Cycling:

Ghana’s lone cyclist, Frank David Awuku is set to be in action on Tuesday morning in the Cycling competition.

AFRICA YOUTH GAMES DAY 4 REPORT

Abraham Ayittey and Mohammed Adam in action against South Africa.

Team Ghana continued to rack up some impressive performances in the singles event of the Badminton competition but the Tables Tennis team missed out in their bid to secure medals in their singles event on Day-4 in the ongoing African Youth Championship in Gaborone, Botswana.

Badminton:

Ghana’s boy’s number one seed Abraham Ayittey advanced to the quarter finals of the boy’s singles event after beating Algeria’s Mohammed Amine Guelmaoui 21-17 21-19 at the Police College Indoor facility in Otse, Botswana.

Ayittey had earlier accounted for Congo’s Tony Tshizanaga Mutombo winning 21-8 21-1 in a one sided second round game, after drawing a bye in the first round.

The Takoradi based player is set to play Mauritius’ first seed, Julien Paul in what has been billed as the highlights of Day-5 at the AYG on Monday, 26^th May.

Meanwhile, Abraham Ayittey and Diana Archer came back from a set down to beat their counter parts from Botswana to qualify for the quarter finals of the mixed doubles event.

The Ghanaian youngsters won 14-21 21-18 21-8 in a tensed fight for victory to set up a clash with Mauritius on Monday.

Ayittey and his boy’s doubles partner Mohammed Adam drew a bye in the first round of that competition and have advanced to the next stage of the competition.

However, Team Ghana suffered some early exits in the singles games.

Mohammed Adam lost 2:0 to Botswana’s Tumisang Olekantse while Diana also lost 2:0 to Nigeria’s top seed Dorcas Adesokan in round two. Similarly, Victoria Asmah lost 2:0 to Egypt’s Farida Mostafa.

The competition continues on Monday, 26^th May with some exciting match ups in the singles and doubles events.

The Head coach of the Badminton Team, Jacob Wilson commented about his team’s performances.

“It’s been an improvement over the previous outing. They played with more dedication and commitment and also listened more and digested what they were told by the coach.

“If all goes well, we will have to do better than yesterday.”

Table Tennis:

Isaac Amoako and Eve Adom Amankwah missed out on a place on the medal podium in the Table Tennis Championship at the African Youth Games following defeats to their Mauritius and Congolese opponents respectively on Sunday at the National Youth Centre in Gaborone.

The duo went into their individual quarter final events on the back of some impressive displays in the first and second rounds but came unstuck against their more tactical and experienced opponents.

Adom placed 6^th in the subsequent placement matches while Isaac came 8^th overall.

Head coach of Team Ghana, Mr. Owusu Ansah was keen to dwell on the positives of participating in the Games, noting that this was the first time since 2008 that Ghana had competed in a major African Championship.

DAY 3 AFRICA YOUTH GAMES

Christian Amoah (left) wins Ghana’s second medal

Christian Amoah becomes second Ghanaian to win a medal at the African Youth Games after grabbing a silver medal in the men's 77kg weightlifting competition. 

Amoah has thus qualified for the World Youth Championship in Nanjing China and in the process set a new National record in the 77kg category, finishing with a total of 225kg.

Amoah tried unsuccessfully to wrestle the gold medal from Cameroun’s Cedric Feugno who won the gold medal in the division.

The 15-year old was participating in his second major competition after taking part in the African Weightlifting Championship last year.

He showed a great character of strength to clinch the medal, having watched Juliana Arkoh win a silver medal the day before.

Swimming:

Ghana’s Ophelia Swayne missed the chance to advance in the Swimming competition at the ongoing African Youth Games in Botswana after placing 23^rd and 21^st overall in the women’s 50m freestyle  and the 50m butterfly events respectively.

Swayne had an off colour day clocking 30.62 in the freestyle and 32.36 in the butterfly. The youngster, who is on a Ghana Olympic Committee sourced Olympic Solidarity scholarship, promised to train hard for the upcoming World Youth Championship in Nanjing, China, having completed her exams.

Table Tennis:

The pair of Isaac Amoako and Marian Amankwah Adom could move into the medal zone of their respective singles events with wins at 1/8^th stage of their singles events on Saturday.

The two players won their 1/16^th games on Saturday, and have set themselves up against opponents from Mauritius and Congo respectively in the Table Tennis competition on Sunday.

GHANA OLYMPIC COMMITTEE APPOINTS NEW CHEF DE MISSION

Mr. Chris Essilfie

The Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) has appointed Mr. Chris Essilfie as its new Chef de Mission for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

Mr. Essilfie’s appointment takes immediate effect, following the resignation of Mr. Ben Nunoo-Mensah as Treasurer and Chef de Mission for the Commonwealth Games.

The decision was taken at the GOC’s meeting on Monday 17th March, 2014.

Mr. Essilfie was already a member of the GOC Commonwealth Games Working Group and his substantive appointment will mean continuity in the processes already underway.

Mr. Essilfie brings a wealth of experience on board as an accomplished consultant with over twenty three years of corporate, consulting and academic experience in Ghana and the United Kingdom.

He is currently an Executive Board Member of the Ghana Olympic Committee and the immediate past Vice President of the Ghana Taekwondo Association.

He chairs the GOC’s Fundraising Committee and also led an ad-hoc committee that was charged with Strategy Development, HR and Restructuring. He is additionally a member of the Finance committee.

Among other things, Mr. Essilfie will lead discussions on securing a pre-Games training site for the Commonwealth Team, discussions on the consolidation of funding to support the Commonwealth Games effort, and the selection of an Authorized Ticket Reseller for the Games.

The GOC would like to thank friends, well-wishers, supporters, and all stakeholders for their patience, trust and solidarity over the last few days, and assures all and sundry that preparations towards the Commonwealth Games are on course.

Please below is Mr. Chris Essilfie’s profile:

Chris Essilfie is the Executive Director of IBS Consulting Alliance, a business strategy and management consulting firm in Accra. He is also the Director of Strategy at the Ghana Chamber of Oil & Gas.
Chris is an accomplished consultant with over twenty three years of corporate, consulting and academia experience in Ghana and the United Kingdom.
His many years of corporate experience traversed a number of cross-functional assignments.
Prior to setting up his current practice, he had had a number of years of his consulting experience in the United Kingdom, working as a financial advisor at an investment management consulting firm and as a project management consultant at a project development management consulting firm where he led project teams to successfully execute projects in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Essilfie has worked with several boards, senior management and management teams to restructure and turnaround many underperforming companies in the country.
Mr. Essilfie is a United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) certified consultant with a BSC degree in Chemical engineering, MBA in Finance and a Professional Diploma in Financial Modeling and Project management.
He is an executive Board Member of the Ghana Olympic Committee and the immediate past Vice President of the Ghana Taekwondo Association.
He currently chairs the Strategy Development, HR and Restructuring and Fund raising committees at GOC, and serves on the Finance committee of the GOC.

SPORTS MINISTRY INAUGURATES "GLASGCOW 2014" SUB-COMMITTEES

  

Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Joseph Yamin

      

  

       

       The ministry of Youth and Sports have inaugurated sub-committees to take charge of specific activities for Ghana’s preparations in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth games. 

    Twenty five (25) individuals were drawn from the various associations and  government and the media to administer roles in areas of finance, publicity and technical advisory amongst others.

     Leader of Ghana's team Mr. Ben Nunoo Mensah said "It is going to be a difficult job but I want to assure that it would be very well executed." Ghana would be participating in athletics, boxing, weight lifting, Judo, table tennis, para sports, badminton, swimming, Cycling and Shooting.

    Mr. Nunoo Mensah added " We are hoping that this would be Ghana's best participation in any commonwealth games of all time."            

    Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports Mr. Joseph Yamin also pledged governments unflinching support for the Olympic Team. the minister said"the support is what we are witnessing now, at least for the first time we are talking about committee for the games set up as early as five (5) Months before the competition."

  

        Below is the list of Committee's and the constituents :

       FINANCE COMMITEE

1. Alhaji Abudulai Yakubu                          MOYS                            Chairman

2. Mrs. Alice Attipoe                                     NSA                                                

3. Mr. Prosper Apasu                                   MOYS                            

4. Mr. Eric Mwinyele Banoeyele                NSA

5. Hajia Joice Mensah Zeinab                   GOC

6.Mr.Armstrong Agboada                           MOYS                             

PUBLICITY AND  FUNDERAISING  COMMITTEE      

1.Mr. Mawuko Afedzenu                             GH. Tennis Association

2. Mr. Fred Darko                                          MEDIA

3.Naa Darkua Dodoo                                  MEDIA

4. Mr. Charles OSEI asibey                        MEDIA

5.Mr. Eric  Bani                                              Office of the President

6. Mr. George Lomotey                               MEDIA

7. Mr. Larry George Botchway                  MOYS, DEP. PRO             

         PROTOCOL  COMMITTEE

1.Mr. E.O. Mensah                                           State Protocol                    Chairman

2. Mr. Samuel  Sah                                           State  Protocol

3.Alhaji Rex Sumani                                        MOYS 

4. Mr. Francis Asare                                         Nat. Accreditation

5. Nana Mankatah                                                

6.Mr. Samuel Korsah                                       MOYS                                 

          TECHNICAL  COMMITTEE.

1.Mr. Erasmus Adorkor                                 NSA                                         Chairman

2. Mr. Emmanuel  Tetteh                                GH. Judo Asso.

3.Bishop Adjah Cofie                                      Para Sport

4.Ambassodor Ray Quarcoo                        GH Amateur Boxing Asso.

5. Mr. Lawoetey Tetteh                                    MOYS

6.Mr. Nestor Galley                                           GH. Badminton Association           

 

GHANAIAN ATHLETES FOR SCHORLARSHIP ABROAD

 

Members of the Athletics team in a pose

Nine Ghanaian  athletes left  Accra for  the USA on Sunday to  take up Academic  Scholarships, with two more expected to depart onTuesday.



Elizabeth Dadzie and

 Adelaide Nkrumah are set 

for Iowa Central College. 


The trio of Daniel Gyasi 

(400m runner), Mary Quayson (200m/100m) and Janet Amponsah are bound for Western Texas College. 


Sprinter Shadrack Adu-Gyamfi, and long/middle distance runners Lydia Atta Afia

Mato, Sampson Azumah, and Agnes Abu are headed for Barton County College.
Two more athletes are expected to leave Accra for the USA on Tuesday.