Credit: Francis Ofori
Accra, March 28, GNA – The second edition of the of the HD Plus Kids Armwrestling is expected to witness over 15,000 participants from the various Junior High and Senior High Schools in Ghana.
The competition, which promises to be an improvement of what happened in the maiden season as the Ghana Armwrestling Federation (GAF) led by Mr. Charles Osei Asibey and Madam Adelaide Abbiw-Williams, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SES HD PLUS Ghana were committed in developing the sport in Ghana.
Speaking at the launch of the new season, Mr. Osei Asibey, who doubles as President of the Armwrestling Federation of Africa (AFA) and Ghana Armwrestling Federation noted that the sport was on the verge of becoming one of the most accepted sports disciplines in the country.
He expressed his excitement for the willingness of HD Plus to continue supporting the growth of Armwrestling in Ghana and on the continent at large, hence injecting Ghc 300,000 to back the event this year.
According to him, the main aim of GAF was channelled at identifying future champions who would win laurels for Ghana at the world stage and on the African continent.
The AFA President announce that the event would take place in five different regions, an improvement of the initial three regions in the first edition.
“The first season got us a kids academy which is at Bukom, we have about 45 young boys and girls coming from all over Ghana to form the kids academy.”
Mr. Asibey said the short-term goal for the competition was to groom young pullers who would win not less than ten gold medals for Ghana at the 13th Africa Games next year.
He called on stakeholders to come on board and help make Armwrestling a household sport in Ghana.
Madam Adelaide Abbiw-Williams, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SES HD PLUS Ghana also speaking at the ceremony said “We are pleased to continue this partnership with GAF this year. Beyond supporting GAF’s Kids Armwrestling, we believe that this partnership will enable more positive experiences for kids in and out of home to support the HD+ offer of safe, fun and educative kids channels in high-definition pictures to TV homes in Ghana”
According to her, this was an opportunity to help build kids’ capacity in sport and live a healthy life.
She stated that the feedback gotten so far had been encouraging, which was because of their decision to increase the number of regions who would be participating.
Mr. Seth Panwum, Board Chairman of the National Sports Authority (NSA) also commended the Ghana Armwrestling Federation for their efforts in contributing to sports development in the country.
He also noted that the Authority under the ministry of Youth and Sports was working closely to implement a national sports policy which would aid federations in terms of funding.
The HD+ Kids Armwrestling Championship is aimed at encouraging children to participate in Armwrestling and it is open to children aged between 12 and 16 years.
The season two would be held in the Bono Region, Western Region, Greater Accra Region, Ashanti Region and the Eastern Region after which the hosts of the finals would be selected.
The episode of season two would begin on Saturday, April 29 at the Sunyani Senior High School.
GNA