By Kwame Asare Boadu, Kumasi
THE National Sports Council’s (NSC) hockey pitch in Kumasi is crying for redevelopment to befit its status.
Located close to the magnificent Baba Yara Stadium, the hockey pitch has remained so for a long time as governments over the years have not seen the need to bring it up to standard.
Apart from football, hockey is perhaps the most popular sport in the metropolis.
The sport is enjoyed amongst students and non-students alike but there are no developed facilities for use by players.
Indeed, Kumasi has produced some of the finest national hockey players in the past with most of them using the hockey pitch becoming as their training base.
However, years of neglect had resulted in the pitch a sorry sight today.
About 80 percent of the playing area is dusty and bumpy, which does not allow for fluent play.
There are no stands; no inner perimeter; no commentary box; no changing room. To be blunt, the pitch is an eyesore and it is important that something is done about it.
Players who use the field are usually seen struggling to pass and control well.
Interestingly, some of the competitive hockey matches are organised on the pitch.
It is regrettable that Kumasi, Ghana’s second biggest city should find itself in such a situation.
In a country where almost every important facility is located in Accra, the question remains whether the sport has any future in the Ashanti Region.
Accra currently boasts boats of an international standard hockey pitch, and the question remains whether one cannot be built in Kumasi.
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