The Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Iddie Adams, has officially bid farewell to two young Ghanaian athletes and two coaches selected for the Africa Youth Athlete Development Project 2026, an international training camp scheduled to take place in Nairobi from April 5 to 12, 2026, ahead of the IOC Youth Olympic Games in Senegal.
The selected athletes are Gladys Boateng, popularly known as “Gaza”, of St. Louis Senior High School, and Blessed Junior Owusu of St. Hornet Seminary. Their impressive recent performances earned them places in the high-performance training programme. They will be accompanied by experienced coaches Mustapha Ibrahim of Effiduasi Senior High School and Francisca Azumah Zanore of Azantilow Senior High Technical School, Bolgatanga.
The farewell ceremony was held at the Ministry of Sports and Recreation in Accra and was attended by key stakeholders in Ghana sports. Present were the President of the Ghana Olympic Committee, Richard Akpokavie, President of Ghana Athletics, Mr. Bawa Fuseini, Chief Director of the Ministry, Mrs. Wilhelmina Asamoah, as well as officials from the Ministry and Ghana Athletics.
In a brief address, Minister Adams congratulated the athletes on their selection and assured them of government support.
“Congratulations on your achievements so far. This training opportunity has come because there is still room for improvement. Make good use of the exposure, and I am confident you will not disappoint the nation,” he said.
He further charged the athletes to remain disciplined throughout their development, “be disciplined in your training, eating, sleep, and academics. If you do this, your journey to higher heights will be much easier,” the Minister added.
The Minister also encouraged the coaches to fully utilise the opportunity to enhance their technical capacity, "explore the training camp, acquire all the knowledge and skills available, and return to share them with your colleagues and athletes to help achieve better results,” he noted.
President of the Ghana Olympic Committee, Richard Akpokavie, also congratulated the athletes and commended Ghana Athletics for maintaining strong relations with the International Olympic Committee and World Athletics. “This is a good result for Ghana sports. I believe our athletes will make us proud with the knowledge they will gain from this programme,” he said. He urged the athletes to balance education with sports, noting that life after active sports should also be a priority.
The Africa Youth Athlete Development Project is aimed at preparing young athletes across the continent for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games. The programme focuses on structured athlete and coach education, using World Athletics CECS content to deliver specialised youth coaching techniques alongside athlete modules in safeguarding, anti-doping, nutrition, and personal brand development
By; Victoria Kwofie
