Kumasi-Ghana, Nov. 10, GNA – The 27th edition of the Ghana University Sports Association (GUSA) Games officially opened at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi on Monday, with a colorful acrobatic display by the pupils of the University’s basic school.
An estimated number of 4,000 athletes and officials from 13 Ghanaian universities, are expected to participate in this year’s games which would last for two weeks.
They would be competing in various disciplines such as Athletics, Basketball, Hockey, Badminton, Goalball, Beach Volleyball, Football, Handball, Netball, Table tennis and volleyball.
This year’s games is under theme “Harnessing sporting talents of students for national development through healthy competition using science and technology”.
Professor Ellis Owusu-Dabo, Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) speaking at the opening ceremony, said there had been a considerable improvement in sporting facilities at KNUST as compared to the last time the university hosted the games in 2012.
He was of the view that the flashy atmosphere seen at the opening ceremony would be translated into actions at the various fields.
Prof. Owusu-Dabo pointed out that, a win in any of the game should not be interpreted only in terms of medals, but should also highlight the shared principles of university education which included integrity and human resource development.
He stressed the need for participants to uphold and project the core valued principles of society and to safeguard the integrity of the games by exhibiting behaviours which underscored the tenets of university as a non- autocratic institution capable of holding an incident free games.
Mr. Shaibu Tanko Ibrahim, GUSA President said sports was not only a means of entertainment, but also an important tool for job creation for young people.
It was therefore, important for universities in Ghana to proper mainstream sports in their curriculum to help unearth and open doors to young people who could use such talents to fend for themselves in the future.
He noted that, in the era of science and technology, there were a lot to be done to make sporting activities more attractive to the youth and that universities needed to lead a way in this regard to make it reasonable and interesting.
Mr. Ibrahim appealed to government to commit more resources into the development of curriculum for sports and training of sport instructors at the universities.
In the wrap up for score lines for day one, UBIDS beat UPSA 3 – 0 in men’s football category whilst UDS defeated AAMUSTED by 3-0 while UENR and GIMPA drew 1-1 after full time.
UNER however won the game 5-4 in a penalty shootout.
In the Basketball men category, UG crashed GIMPA on 70 -57 on points, UEW also booted out GIJ by 122 – 8 points whilst UMaT was outsmarted by UCC on 27 – 91 points
The netball category also saw KNUST defeating AAMUSTED by 62 -8 points.
