Sports Equity Lab holds speed clinic for young athletes in Accra
The former Ghana long jumper and founding director of the US-based Sports Equity Lab urges a science-based approach to training athletes
Sports Equity Lab, in collaboration with the former Jamaican world recorder Asafa Powell, has successfully held a speed clinic for young athletes at the University of Ghana’s Athletics Oval.
The event was part of a four-day sensitisation and training programme by Sports Equity Lab, for athletes, coaches and industry stakeholders.
A team of international coaches led by Loren Seagrave joined Asafa Powell to lead up to 50 Ghanaian student-athletes and their coaches for the speed clinic.
The founding director of the US-based Sports Equity Lab and former Ghana long jumper, Yetsa Tuakli- Wosornu, explained the idea behind the programme.
“When I was training with the national team, I saw three gaps. Number one was a science-based coaching. Number two was the inclusion of all athletes, including athletes with disabilities.
“In Florida, we had Olympians and Paralympians mixed into the same group, all learning from the best. Why can’t we do that here? I’m gonna have an inclusive sports environment where people with disabilities can also participate.
“And the third thing I saw was the absence of true professional coaching. And so we’re trying to fill those three gaps in order to change the paradigm for sports here in Ghana,” said Tuakli-Wosornu.
She also recommended a science-based regime for athletes in Ghana.
”The three pillars of our programme have to be science-based. Speed is a skill: it can be taught, science-based.
“Number two: athlete-centred. So, we need to codesign with our athletes, (we need to) stop shouting down to our athletes, ask them, ‘What do you need today? What do you need tomorrow? What do you need next week? Work with them, not on them, right?” Tuakli-Wosornu said.
“And the third thing is that it should be coach-driven. So again, this wonderful core of coaches who sat through our two-, three-hour-long dinner last night listening to us.
Sports Equity Lab seeks to make sports more safe, more accessible, and much more successful for athletes of all abilities and all backgrounds through research.
Victor Atsu Tamakloe
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