Young athletes storm Kumasi for Junior Olympics
The Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi will come alive as hundreds of young athletes gather to compete and catch the attention of athletics coaches at the second Junior Olympics Athletics competition beginning Friday.
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Organised by renowned US-based Ghanaian athletics coach, Elorm Amenakpor, and sprints sensation, Benjamin Amenakor, this competition serves as a vital platform to identify and nurture grass-roots talents within the Kumasi metropolis, which is renowned for its track and field events.
Amenakpor, who is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Sports Administration and works as an assistant sprint coach at West Texas A&M University, is thrilled about the two-day development programme. The event brings together budding talents from primary and secondary schools, aged seven to 16, to compete in their respective age groups across sprints, middle-distance races and field events such as the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,500m, and long jump.
Talent hunt
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Coach Amenakpor expressed his excitement about the programme's ability to help scout and identify exceptional talents to be provided with opportunities to undergo further development in the USA through athletics scholarships, similar to opportunites enjoyed by notable Ghanaian athletes such as Azamati and James Dadzie (the current national men's 200m record holder) who are making waves in American collegiate athletics.
"One of the goals is to scout the exceptional talents and provide them with opportunities for further development and the chance to seize other sporting and educational prospects abroad," Amenakpor stated. "For the rest of the athletes, there will be several coaches here to aid their continued development, shaping them into extraordinary athletes and future champions."
The inaugural Junior Olympics, inspired by similar competitions held in athletics powerhouses such as Jamaica and the USA, took place at the Paa Joe Park at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi. However, it was not organised last year.
Expanded programme
Coach Amenakpor, who previously coached at the University of Ghana and played an instrumental role in nurturing Azamati and Dadzie before their relocation to the USA, has grand aspirations for this competition. He revealed plans to expand the Junior Olympics next year into three zones across Ghana, culminating in a national championship to create a larger pool of athletes as they scale up grass-roots development of athletics.
Starting next year, the Junior Olympics will be organised in Tamale for the Northern Sector, Kumasi, for the Middle Sector (comprising the Ashanti, Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo regions), and a Southern Sector event for athletes from the regions along Ghana's coastal belt.
Coach Amenakpor disclosed that for next year's competition, Azamati, currently competing in international meets in Europe, intends to bring along some world-class athletes to assess the talent pool and contribute to their development.
"The Junior Olympics is a project that holds a special place in my heart. It is my way of expressing gratitude to the sport that has given me so much," said Amenakpor passionately. "Everything I am today is as a result of athletics. We initiated the Junior Olympics so that young athletes can have a platform to showcase their talents, take pride in their abilities and pursue athletics as a career path, enabling them to have a brighter future."
The races and field events have been categorised as follows: athletes aged seven to 10 years will compete in the 100m and 200m races, while athletes aged 11 to 13 years will participate in the two sprints and the long jump, and athletes aged 14 to 16 years will compete in the sprints, middle distance races and long jump events.
