By Emmanuel Asante Attakora, GNA
Accra, Dec. 06, GNA - Mr Frederick Lartey Otu, President for the Ghana Taekwondo Federation (GTF), has said, it is time for the sport, to be positioned effectively to become a household sport, to gain more interest from the youth.
According to him, Ghana should put in mechanisms to whip up interests from the grass root levels, as the sport was an internationally recognized one from the Korean Culture and was fast gaining grounds in the over 209 countries across the globe.
He made this known at the opening ceremony of the three day 10th Korean Cup Taekwondo Championship in Tema, at the Korea Community Sports Complex for seniors, para athletes and for the first time Juniors and Cadets.
“The GTF and the Korean community must work together to make Taekwondo a house hold name and to compete with other leading sports in Ghana.
“The sports landscape is evolving rapidly and therefore there is the need to position Taekwondo effectively in the sporting arena, where many sports are competing for the attention of the youth.
“The game should be organized to become more attractive but unfortunately, GTF being the body responsible for organizing and developing Taekwondo in Ghana is hard pressed for funds” he added.
He noted that the executives of GTF have on their own organized resources for the GTF to partake in international championships, but added that it was not enough.
“The sports authority has not been able to provide funds for Taekwondo championships, apart from sponsoring the national team to the quadrennial All African Games.
“The few international events that the national Taekwondo team have participated in over the last years were sponsored by the GTF and the Ghana Olympic Committee”.
Mr Lartey Otu, used the occasion to urge and propose to the Korean embassy and corporate Ghana to come on board as they seek to introduce the game to the schools in a bid to get more athletes to join the sport.
“Taekwondo attracts many children and many schools are adding the sport to their extra curricula activity.
“I am urging the Korean community to come in strongly and support Taekwondo, we of the GTF are proposing that Taekwondo could be used to promote cultural and economic exchanges between Ghana and Korea.
GNA
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