On Tuesday, June 22, 2022, a delegation from the Department of Horticulture of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), paid a visit to the Ashanti Regional Directorate of National Sports Authority (NSA) to discuss how best pitches in the country can be maintained and managed.
The delegation was welcomed by the Head of education, training and research unit of NSA, Dr Enoch Baah and in his welcoming address, he thanked the team from KNUST for coming.
He expressed his appreciation to the team from the academic institution for agreeing to collaborate with the NSA to achieve a common goal.
The delegation from KNUST were; Dr Laura Atuah, Mrs Hannah Vic. Adzrakul, Madam Irene Idun and Mr Patrick Kumah.
Dr Baah said that based on the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed a fortnight ago between the two institutions, there were a number of things the Horticulture Department of KNUST was to help the NSA with.
Some of these things are, research, Pitch management and maintenance, training of ground workers as well as consultation.
For the start, much focus will be placed at the four main stadiums namely, Kumasi, Accra, Tamale and Cape coast.
Dr Atuah in her remarks said that to begin with, they had to break the work into stages, thus the short term and medium to long term because some research can take up to three years to achieve its purpose.
In light of this, the NSA should bring out specific areas they find problematic so the Horticulture department can assist in the near future.
Discussion on the type of grass, type of soil, type of water to be used, the drainage systems and climatic change also took place during the meeting held at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.
The whole team then moved on to the pitch to examine the nature of the grass in order to know how well it can be maintained.
The team from NSA that were present were; the Acting Regional Director of NSA in Cape Coast, Mr Tieku Alexander, the Head of Estate Department NSA in Accra, Ebo Andorful and he was accompanied by his deputy, Ruth Anarfi Fordjour.
Joshua Sekyere, administrator of the Education, Training and Research Unit was also present as well as the Head of Estate Department of the Ashanti Regional Directorate, Mr Kofi Addai and he was also in the company of his two deputies, Anna Attobra and Vincent Nyaning Opoku.
By: Naseeba Yahaya/NSA-A/R