Full marks for Ghalca at UPSA

Copy Link | GHALCA | June 6th, 2022

Even if I hadn’t taken part in the maiden the Ghana League Clubs Association (Ghalca)-University of Professional Studies (UPSA) Executive course for football administrators, I would’ve still lauded the initiative and its relevance to sports development in Ghana.

I would’ve relied on news reports on the two-day event and my appreciation of what transpired therefore would’ve been limited to news report, which isn’t bad anyway. Being a participant, I’ve had finer insights into how things went. My conclusion after assessing the programme is, sports administrators must’ve more of these seminars.

Sports bodies, groups or associations must continue to partner reputable higher, educational institutions like UPSA to help build the capacity of their members. That helps to equip them with fundamental principles of running sports organisations today.

Ghalca scored full marks for organising this event. I’m neither a Ghalca member nor a sports administrator but after seeing the advertisement and noticing that it was open to the public, I paid on my own accord for the learning experience. It was a good decision.

Having about 100 sports administrators under one roof, to teach them and change negative, counterproductive mindsets sports on administration is positive. Reps of Premier, Division One and Division Two clubs including rugby, swimming and NSA officials attended the event.

Sports financing, sports event planning, sports law, sports and our community, media rights, corruption and gambling, athletes’ recruitment, and public relations were key topics treated by established sports marketing lecturers like Niel Armstrong-Mortagbe.

The sessions were engaging and interactive. The participants shared practical challenges and useful experiences in sports management. Their questions were revealing. Participants showed their depth of knowledge, some deep – others budding.

If there’s one thing the Ghalca, UPSA course will immediately achieve, it’s bridging the knowledge gap of the participants as it was eye-opening. What’s left is how the acquired information would be implemented. Nevertheless, Ghalca and UPSA deserve applause for putting up this event. Kudos, Cudjoe Fianoo and your team.

By Jerome Otchere