The University of Education, Winneba’s (UEW) contingent of athletes and officials from the just ended 26th edition of the Ghana Universities Sports Association (GUSA) games has paid a courtesy call on the Management of UEW to officially present trophies and medals won at the games.
Chairman of the Amalgamated Sport Clubs Association, Dr. Kwame Kyere Diabour, presenting the athletes, officials, trophies and medals to Management at a brief ceremony at the Council Chamber of UEW, touted the record-breaking performances of Team UEW at the games.
Dr. Diabour thanked Management for their continuous support before, during and after the games. He was full of gratitude to Management for their physical presence at the opening ceremony and in the course of the games to motivate athletes and officials.
He reckoned that it contributed immensely to the steller performances of the Team at the games.
According Dr. Diabour, the close association of Management to the team was very well received even by competing universities at the games as something worth emulating by their respective Management. “How come your Management Team is constantly visiting you, when our own just across the streets cannot even visit us. When we go back home, we’ll tell them to emulate the good example of your Management.”, a colleague from a competing university said.
He appealed to Management to support the athletes to compete at international games to consolidate the Vice-Chancellor’s internationalisation agenda.
The Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Andy Ofori-Birikorang speaking on behalf of Management expressed excitement and pride on receiving the team for their wonderful and record-breaking performances at the games.
He noted that their presence together with the medals and trophies brought back nostalgia of their steller performances at the games.
He was very happy with the high level of team unity and comportment among the contingent. He added that the performance of the team regardless of the position on the medal table was excellent and commended the record-breakers for their respective feat.
The Vicc-Chancellor, Prof. Anthony Afful-Broni who could not hold his joy on receiving the the victorious team, promised to work on increasing the budgetary allocation for sports and urged the Office of Amalgamated Sports Clubs Association to strengthen their scouting activities to attract more competent athletes for UEW.
He promised to organise a befitting get-together at the convenience of the athletes to crown the successes chalked by the team at the games.
The sixteen-day event was under the theme _”Integrating Sports Into Academia for Youth Empowerment and Development”.
The games have been used over the years to harness the talents of students at the Universities in disciplines like athletics, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, football and goalball.
Other disciplines are handball, hockey, netball, table tennis, tennis and volleyball.
Record-Breaking
The GUSA 2020 was a record-breaking game for Team UEW as they set three new records in 4×400 meters (men), 5,000 meters (men) and 10,000 meters (men).
The wonder boy of the games, William Amponsah set a 14 minutes :19 seconds new record in 5,000 meters (men) breaking the old record of 14 minutes 56 seconds by the University of Cape Coast’s (UCC)Malik Yakubu. William Amponsah also set a new record of 29 minutes 53 seconds in 10,000 meters (men) to surpass the 32 minutes 29 seconds set by Malik Yakubu of UCC two years ago.
In the men’s 4×400 meters relay, the UEW quartet of Neenyi Akese Arthur, Prince Charles Frimpong, Isreal Anane and Owusu Gad set a new record of 3 minutes 09 seconds breaking the old record of 3 minutes 11 seconds set by UCC in 2017.
Faustina Owusu broke the 37: 50 meters existing record in Discus (women) to set a new record of 40: 92 meters.
Academic Levels of Athletes
Interestingly, almost all the athletes who set new records or chalked successes for UEW at the games are in level 100. This is a refreshing piece of news indicating that Team UEW would be a force to reckon with in any subsequent games. This also calls for some more scouting to augment the existing stock of athletes.
All over the world, sports plays an integral role in promoting institutions of higher learning through games. Students seeking admission often get attracted to these institutions because of their performances in sporting activities.
Last year the Management of UEW gave 35 athletes full scholarships. This was the first time such a number had been given scholarship. Many have attributed the move to the successes chalked at GUSA 2020. It is the hope and prayer of the technical handlers that this number would even be increased for Team UEW to win more laurels in future GUSA games.
Vice Chancellor’s visit to Team UEW at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Vice-Chancellor’s (VC) visit to the team’s camp was first of its kind in the history of any GUSA games where a VC of UEW had paid a working visit to the Team. The VC, Rev. Fr. Prof. Afful-Broni was accompanied by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Andy Ofori-Birikorang and the Registrar, Surv. Paul Osei Barima, Esq.
The visit by the VC was greeted with joy from officials and athletes as it visibly boosted their morale. Many believe that the surprise visit contributed to the successes chalked by Team UEW. Team UEW, upon the visit of the VC and his Management, went on to win gold medals in handball and badminton (women).
Medals Won by Team UEW
GUSA 2020 has witnessed Team UEW’s best performances in the history of the games. The institution’s performances in GUSA games took a dip producing abysmal performances that culminated in UEW bagging 4 gold and placing 3rd in 2017, 5 gold and placed 4th in 2018 and 1 gold and placed 4th in 2019 mini and main GUSA respectively.
The 2020 GUSA games under the chairmanship of Dr. Kwame Kyere Diabour, his able technical handlers, honorary coaches and athletes being backed by the VC Rev. Fr. Prof Afful-Broni and his Management Team rose to the challenge with some pragmatic measures culminating in the enviable performances this time around.
The athletes with their team of officials and technical handlers deserved commendation for bagging 15 gold, 11 silver, 17 bronze medals and placing 2nd in this year’s GUSA 2020 games at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Some athletes of Team UEW said that this was a tip of the iceberg. Team UEW is the team to watch come mini and main GUSA 2021 and 2022 respectively.
