By Simon Asare, GNA
Accra, Nov. 12, GNA – Dr. Kwame Baah Nuakoh, Chairman of the Ghana Football Association Club Licensing Committee, has called on universities to deliberately use sports as a tool to strengthen alumni engagement and attract sustainable funding for sports development.
According to him, one of the major challenges facing university sports was the inability of institutions to market sports effectively to students and alumni, thereby missing opportunities to generate financial and corporate support.
Speaking at the maiden University of Ghana Sports Dialogue on the theme: “Repositioning University Sports as a Driver of Institutional Excellence and National Development,” Dr. Baah-Nuakoh said successful universities around the world had leveraged sports to build institutional pride that continued long after students graduated.
He noted that alumni support for universities was often driven by strong emotional connections created through sporting activities and traditions.
“We have not sold university sports to our alumni. The reason why we are not getting funding is that somebody must want to buy into what you have. When sports become an integral part of a university’s culture, they create pride and lifelong attachment,” he said.
Dr Baah-Nuakoh cited examples from leading international universities where sporting rivalries and events attracted thousands of alumni back to campus, creating opportunities for fundraising, sponsorships and broader institutional development.
He urged university authorities to make students feel connected to sports from the onset, stressing that alumni who maintained strong ties to their alma mater were more likely to contribute to sports infrastructure, scholarships and other development projects.
According to him, major sporting events and alumni homecoming activities could provide platforms for successful graduates and corporate leaders to give back to their universities through donations and sponsorship.
“It is not just about winning medals. It is about creating pride among students through sports. Once alumni are attracted back to campus, they will support not only sports but other aspects of university life,” he added.
Dr Baah-Nuakoh said universities should package and market sporting competitions in ways that would attract corporate brands and alumni participation while enhancing the visibility of institutions.
He described sports as a strategic marketing and relationship-building tool capable of reconnecting universities with influential alumni who now occupied leadership positions in business, politics and other sectors.
Mr Kojo Addae-Mensah, Chief Executive Officer of Databank, urged policymakers to review Ghana’s educational structure, arguing that the current system was limiting the development of student-athletes.
He said while funding challenges had long existed in Ghanaian sports, the more fundamental issue was the educational system, which had reduced opportunities for young people to discover and nurture their sporting talents.
Mr Addae-Mensah noted that under the previous five-year secondary school system, students had more time to participate in various sporting disciplines and identify their strengths before facing major academic pressures.
According to him, the current structure places excessive emphasis on academics, leaving little room for sports development and making it difficult to identify and groom talented athletes at an early age.
He called for a non-partisan reassessment of educational policies to better integrate sports into the learning process, stressing that nurturing student-athletes from the basic and secondary school levels was critical to strengthening university sports and national sporting development.
Dr. Austin W. Luguterah, Director of Sports and Wellness at the University of Ghana, in his welcome address, said university sports should be viewed beyond competitions and medals and recognised as an investment in human capital, innovation and national development.
He noted that sports played a vital role in promoting discipline, teamwork, resilience and leadership among students while contributing to wellness and social inclusion.
Dr. Luguterah said achieving the full potential of university sports would require effective governance structures, sustainable partnerships and innovative financing models.
He said the dialogue was intended to generate practical solutions on issues such as sports financing, stakeholder partnerships and strategies for measuring the contribution of sports to institutional performance and national development.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Simon Asare
Email: [email protected]