The Minister for Youth and Sports, Hon. Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah has undertaken a one-day working visit to the National Sports College (NSC), Winneba on 11th March, 2013.
The visit was to afford the Minister the opportunity to meet with Management Staff and also observe at first hand the state of infrastructure at the College and its needs.
Receiving the Minister, the Director of NSC, Mr. Joe Kpenge said that the College had been able to achieve a lot of successes despite its challenges.
He said the College run two academies, namely the Tennis and the Football Academies, and added that several tennis clinics had been held which had resulted in some of their students representing Ghana at various international tennis competitions.
On the soccer scene, the Director said nineteen teenage players have migrated to the Senior Secondary School to enable them enhance their education adding that six of their football players were shortlisted for the National Under-17 team, resulting in one of them currently a member of the team.
Mr. Kpenge appealed to the Minister to help the College revise its Legal mandate, assist it gain more autonomy and also increase staff strength.
Responding, Hon. Afriyie-Ankrah stated that the college was a strategic institution in the development of sports in the country and that there was the need for the familiarization tour to acquaint himself with the positives as well as the challenges and the way forward.
The Minister said that Public-Private Partnership (PPP) was the way forward to upgrade the infrastructure and make the College vibrant to respond to current trends in sports promotion and development and also make it more commercially viable.
He said there was the need to plan and organize and involve other stakeholders in making the necessary inputs to position the College strategically and ultimately enable Ghana win lots of medals and trophies in both the continent and worldwide.
He pledged to work together with Management to turn around the fortunes of the College and deliver results for their mutual benefit.
The Minister later inspected the boxing arena, hostel, kitchen, tennis courts and the football field.
Source: MOYS PR DEPT (Larry George Botchway)