Madam Elizabeth King, Vice President of the Ghana Hockey Association (GHA) has admonished young women in sports to use their leisure time judiciously, by learning other trades, since sports is a short-term profession.
Madam King said this at the Sports Women’s Dialogue Series organized by the Women’s Commission of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) on Thursday, April 6, at the Theodosia Okoh Hockey Stadium to commemorate the International Sports Day under the theme, “Overcoming the challenges of the elite Ghanaian female athletes and social skills for the elite athlete for the competitive sports world”.
She advised young hockey players to aspire to greater heights in life to be successful women by educating themselves as well.
She added that apart from playing hockey, women in sports need to widen their scope to learn something different including hairdressing, dressmaking, etc, to earn extra income and prepare adequately for retirement.
According to Madam King, discipline and hard work would lead them to success and can also close the gender gap, adding that “Who will take over from us when we are no more? I want to plead with young ladies in sports to be confident, disciplined, hard work, creative and think outside the box”.
She advised women not to be their own enemies but be friendly and know who can help or support them positively.
Mrs. Patience Baffoe Bonnie, a Director of the Ghana Prisons Service and a Lawyer, who shared her life story as a former athlete encouraged the participants to combine sports and education.
She advised the participants at the Dialogue to be time conscious, self-control, avoid discrimination and know what is good for them to become better and fruitful citizens.
Mr. Adolf Tetteh Adjei, Chairman of the Greater Accra Hockey Association who chaired the programme said, “it is always ideal to dream big, and urged young ladies to aspire for greatness”.
Mrs. Joyce Mahama, President of Women Sports Association of Ghana and a member of the Women’s Commission commended the participants and advised them to put what they learnt into practice.
Source: GNA
Frederick Marfo is a sportswriter and social worker well known for his advocacy for equal chances and rights for all athletes, especially those with disabilities.
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