Organizing more competitions is a major way of improving Ghana’s flagging basketball particularly female prospects according to 1978 Sports Writers Association (SWAG) Female Basketball Player of the Year Salifatu Musa.
The former Guard made the statements when Basketballghana.com spoke with her during Zone B games of the 2016 Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges (UPAC) Basketball Championship held at Tamale Polytechnic in the Northern regional capital of Ghana on March 9.
“That is what we want even if it is twice a year, if at least every year we can get a competition like this, the women will come out. They have the interest but they don’t get the push. If we are able to get sponsorship like Yaw Sakyi is doing, at least basketball will come up like our time” she said.
She further lamented how Ghana’s basketball fortunes can be easily changed with a lot more technological resources like television available but sadly isn’t doing so.
“Those days there was no TV but this time round everything is there for us to encourage basketball but we don’t do it even the National Unity Games can’t even come off.”
She praised the efforts of Yaw Sakyi, Chief Executive Officer of Rite Sports Limited for his great support to basketball through his outfit’s numerous initiatives including UPAC and Sprite Ball which have churned out several basketball players in Ghana and abroad.
Tournament Most Valuable Player Abdou Fatau of University of Development Studies (UDS) was trained by Musa and played at Sprite Ball- an annual inter high school competition-in 2012 for Tamale Senior High School.
UDS topped Zone B to secure qualification to the quarter final stage of the UPAC Championship which is headlined By Rexona and will take place at the University of Ghana on April 14.
The third edition of UPAC Championship is supported by MTN, CAL Bank and Fanyogo in partnership with Basketballghana.com, TV3, Y FM and Ghana Sports Newspaper.
