140 participants representing various youth groups in the Bolgatanga Municipality have been trained as part of a 2-day engagement on using sports for development.
The National Youth Authority spearheaded the 2-day training in the Bolgatanga Municipality with support from the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) Project.
Identified as one of the tools for development and social cohesion, the two-day training, which commenced on Thursday 26th September, and ended on September 27, 2024, focuses on leveraging sports for youth and community development to create a congenial environment for all to thrive.
Participants were, therefore, taken through how sports benefit the individual, which includes being a major source of income, an activity that keeps one fit and can unite communities through fun games.
Speaking in an interview with Dreamz News on the sidelines of the training, the Bolgatanga Municipal Director of the National Youth Authority, Clare Maar noted that with sports, the tendency of youth to engage in various social vices is significantly reduced.
She explained that sports can create viable opportunities for the youth who will earn and live decent lives.
She further urged the youth to endeavor to organize inter-community games.
“We are energetic and we need to be participating in sporting activities that can also create entertainment and socialization. The benefits of sports are enormous because they make them busy and make them stay away from social vices, they can cater for their own needs if they go far in sports.
It should not always be about office work. I would like to urge the sports authority to engage the youth more and improve the sporting facilities to engage the youth,” she stated.
Gracing the occasion, the Upper East Regional Director of the National Youth Authority, Francis Takye Koranteng indicated that sports are no longer about engaging in activity to dodge running errands in the house.
Some participants explained that the training has helped them to view sporting activities in a different light.
