Some players at Keta beach
Stakeholders involved in beach soccer in the Volta Region have called for support for the development of the sports in the region.
The call was made during a beach soccer clinic and media engagement held in Keta over the weekend by the Volta Beach Soccer Committee in collaboration with the Volta Regional Football Association.
Speaking at the event, Chairman of the beach soccer committee, Ruben Dzidodo Adjahoe, said the sport has been undermined in the region for far too long despite its economic potentials.
He said, “It’s sad at this point to state that beach soccer in the Volta and Keta has been undermined over the years and has not received its due.”
With a committee now in place to promote the sports, Mr. Adjahoe said, “We would look to partner all the major stakeholders with a renewed vigor in ensuring that Volta becomes a beach soccer hub in Ghana and Africa.”
In furtherance to creating a beach soccer hub in the region, Mr. Adjahoe called on government and stakeholders to develop a permanent beach soccer arena in Keta for the wider development of the sports.
“We are appealing for the needed assistance to develop a permanent beach soccer arena that should be suited to host any international competition,” Mr. Adjahoe said while reckoning that, “Keta is a perfect site for a major beach soccer tournament and a beach soccer arena in Keta would be a catalyst for the wider development of the sports in the Volta Region and Ghana.”
He believes that not only would the sports be another recreational activity for the local people but would also be an avenue to boost ecotourism and the economic development of the region.
In his address, Chairman of the Volta regional Football Association, Daniel Agboga pledged the commitment of his outfit for the development of beach soccer in the region.
He further called on the media and the traditional authority to lend their support for the development of the sports in the region while emphasizing the economic benefits the region stands to gain.
Saturday’s beach soccer clinic and media engagement was a strategic platform designed to review the efforts of stakeholders and to take the necessary steps to whip up interest among the local people towards the game of beach soccer.
Currently, there are about six beach soccer clubs in the Volta region with many others expected to emerge from communities across the coastline.
Testament to this, the national beach soccer team, the Black Sharks is dominated by players from the Volta region.
Apart from the Volta Region, the Central, Western, and Greater Accra regions have also seen a significant rise in activities relating to beach soccer in the country.
