The 2023 African Games Local Organization Committee (LOC) has reiterated President Akufo-Addo’s conversion of University facilities for sports development.
Few weeks ago, the President inaugurated a committee to ensure the successful hosting of the games in 2023.
And as part of the plans to meet the games ‘green’ and ‘legacy’ criteria, the President also announced that the facilities for the games would be converted into a University of Sport for Development after the event concluded.
At its sitting in Accra on Monday, LOC Chairman, Dr. Owusu Ansah, pointed out that contemporary sport had two dimensions—Sports as an end in itself; and sport as a means to an end.
Notice one bears an “s” and the other is without.
Sports as an end in itself is about high-performance sports, and concerns all activities, infrastructure, policies, strategies, programmes, projects, research, training and competitions whose main and usually only objective is to win medals, trophies, tournaments, championships and games.
He said, “These sports are institutionalized, regulated and learning formalized for those who are seeking skills.”
Sport for development, on the other hand, is a means to an end. It is the deliberate use of sport to achieve global, continental, regional, national and individual development goals. Globally, it was used as a catalyst to achieve, in part, the Millennium Development Goals (till 2015); and now, Agenda 2030’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He added, “Sport for development recognizes that all the elite sports we see today originated from play. Play preceded civilization. Before the advent of civilization, primitive people played.
“Children played. However, elite sports disciplines are outcomes of civilization. They all started as playful activities, then somewhere along the line, some people institutionalized, regulated, registered, managed and commercialized them, and they became sports.
“Almost all universities that run programmes in sport focus on sports as an end in itself. The ‘end’ is judged by the trophies, medals and laurels won at national and international games.
“The University of Sport for Development to be established in Ghana will offer programmes that focus on sport as a means to an end.
“The means to an end will require the research and study of the use of sport to achieve development goals such as job creation, peaceful co-existence, teamwork, acceptance of rules and regulations, respect for one another and the elimination of social vices.”
By Kofi Owusu Aduonum