Netball Continues Revival with Exciting 53rd Independence Anniversary Netball Tournament

Having won international laurels for Ghana in 2009, Ghana Netball took another momentous step towards regaining its lost glory with the successful organization of the 53rd Independence Anniversary Netball Tournament held at the Azumah Nelson Sports Complex, Kaneshie, on the 11th and 12th of March, 2010.

The exciting tournament, which had Krypton Ghana Limited, a Sports Marketing and Management firm, as Headline Sponsors, saw four Netball Clubs and five representative sides from five Sub-Metros in Accra participating in vigorous competition.

At the end of the two-day competition, the Clubs Category was won by New Diamond Hands who beat Golden Pods by the narrowest of margins in a hotly contested final which ended 33-32 in favour of the New Diamond Hands ladies. Fairpoint Ladies came third in the Clubs Category with the fourth place going to New Golden Hands.

The Schools Category was won by Okaikoi Sub-Metro, who actualized their “Host-And-Win” slogan, with which they had earlier on welcomed their counterparts from four other Sub-Metros in the Greater Accra Region. Okaikoi beat Ablekuma North 4-2 in the Schools finals. Osu Klottey came third with Ashiedu Keteke coming fourth. The other participating Sub-Metro was La.

All in all, the competition highlighted the precocious talent of Ghanaian women when it comes to the game of Netball. All participating teams exhibited very high levels of enthusiasm for the Sport and it was the unanimous view of all the spectators, officials, dignitaries and Media personnel that Ghana Netball deserves a lot of attention so as to give more exposure to Netball players and the entire Netball fraternity.

The final day of action was graced with the presence of the Chief Executive of the National Sports Council, Mr. Worlanyo Agra, who commended the Executive Board of the Netball Association of Ghana, led by Rev. Nikoi, for their untiring efforts towards lifting the game of Netball in Ghana to a very high pedestal.

Rev. Nikoi, on his part, thanked Mr. Agra for the support given to the Netball Association by the National Sports Council and assured the Council that the Netball Association would not relent in its efforts to rebuild Ghana Netball. Rev. Nikoi also thanked Krypton Ghana Limited for the support that the company had given the Netball Association. He also thanked Voltic Mineral Water who supported the tournament with several boxes of mineral water.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Neil Armstrong-Mortagbe, Chief Executive Officer of Krypton Ghana Limited (Headline Sponsors of the 53rd Independence Anniversary Netball Tournament), praised the Netball Association for taking the initiative to organize a tournament to commemorate Ghana’s Independence Anniversary. He spoke of his company’s desire that Ghanaians who had talents in all sporting disciplines be encouraged to develop these talents and use them to better their lot in life.

He stated that, although Krypton’s core business was to source Sponsorship for her Clients, the company had decided to sponsor the 53rd Independence Day Anniversary Netball Tournament because of the obvious need that Krypton had identified. He encouraged other corporate bodies and international organizations to come to the aid of Ghana Netball and other so-called “lesser known sports” so as to bring more vibrancy into Ghana Sports in general. Krypton Ghana Limited provided Trophies, Cash prizes and general logistics for the tournament. Prizes were awarded to deserving winners at the end of the friendly but energetic hostilities.