Officials of the Ghana Basketball Federation and an official from the Lithuania Basketball University, on Tuesday, 18, January, 2022, paid a visit to the leadership of the Ashanti Regional Directorate of National Sports Authority (NSA).
The Lithuania Basketball Federation (LBF) & International Basketball University (IBU) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ghana Basketball Federation to offer logistical and technical support to the federation.
The team called on Director General of NSA, Prof. Peter Twumasi on Wednesday January 12, 2022 and as part of their itinerary, they will visit four regions in Ghana including Ashanti to assess the state of Ghana Basketball.
Acting (Ag.) Ashanti Regional Director, Mr Emmanuel Kojo Appiah and his management on behalf of the Director General welcomed the team from the Ghana Basketball Federation and Jonas Vainauskas; the representative from the Lithuania Basketball University to the NSA office at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Kumasi.
Mr Emmanuel Kojo Appiah assured the team of the region’s support and assistance when it comes to implementing the dictates of the signed agreement as he believes, Basketball is a discipline that’s loved and followed by many and so, improving it will go a long way to develop sports in the country.
He commended the African Director of the International Basketball University, Richard Borsah for leading the country to this agreement and also expressed his appreciation to the Lithuania Basketball University for choosing to help grow such an important tool of sports in Ghana.
The team from the Ghana Basketball Federation was led by Mr Alex Kukula, Vice-President of Ghana Basketball Association (GBBA) with Mr Richard Borsah, African Director for International Basketball University (IBU) and Mr Thomas Amediku, Secretary of GBBA, all in attendance.
The Lithuania Basketball University rep, Mr Jonas Vainauskas in his opening remark outlined his mission for coming to Ghana where he indicated, they have plans of selecting the best players available at the moment for European tour to allow them showcase their talent and get the exposure.
From the Basketball Association in Ashanti Region, Professor S.O. Afram, Chairman of the Association, Mr Ransford Sarfo Mensah, Secretary of the Association, Mr Ewusi Boateng, Representative of the clubs, Mr King David Ayensu, Sports Director for KSTU and Mr Kwadwo Zinanoba were all present during the meeting.
Prof. Afram gave a brief update of what is going on in the region, their challenges and what they envision for the future with regards to Basketball.
Finishing up, Mr Alex Kukula, Vice-President of Ghana Basketball Association encouraged the Academies to register with Basketball Association so that they can be recognized in order to keep records of them.
The team after vising Accra, Kumasi will make similar stops in Takoradi and Cape Coast to wrap up a 10-day tour in the West African country.
Source: A/R-PR NSA
P/Asamoah