SPEECH BY HON ABUGA PELE, CHAIRMAN FOR LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR AFHF, AFRICAN CUP FOR NATIONS, GHANA 2009 AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF TOURNAMENT AT THE COMMITTEE HALL 1 OF THE ACCRA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE ON MAY 26, 2009 AT 1900 HOURS.

Your Excellency, John Dramani Mahama, Vice President of Ghana,

Your Excellency, Seif Dini Ahmed, President of African Hockey Federation

Hon. Nortey Dua, Deputy Minister of Youth & Sports,

Mr. Walanyo Agra, Ag. Chief Executive of National Sports Council,

Mr. Rex Danquah, Ag. Chief Executive of the LOC, Ghana 2009

All LOC & Sub-Committee members Present,

Friends from the media,

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, Good evening!

What we have witnessed a few minutes ago implies that Ghana formally now has the right of organizing and hosting the 2009 edition of the AfHF, African Hockey Cup for Nations.

Prior, to this official symbolism, Ghana and the LOC, has embarked on series of events in readiness for this day as follows:

We had an awards dinner night to honour corporate institutions that have supported Hockey’s growth and development in the country We had Brainstorming Session with all seven Sub-Committees to fine tune the overall strategy to deliver a successful tournament

We had Editors Lunch for all media houses to solicit their participation as active partners in this enterprise

We had Press Soiree and formal launch of tournament LOGO and Slogan- Let’s begin to dream again.

As we, speak, we have an official website for the tournament already and this can be accessed at www.ghana2009hockey.com . It is a delight to visit. And now that we have been officially handed the flag and rights of organizing and hosting the tournament, we shall be:

• Organizing 2 media training sessions, one for local media on the rules and other aspects of the game and the second for all media including the international media

• Organizing pre-tournament cocktail for all participating teams and officials on the eve of the opening ceremony that is on July 9, 2009

• Hosting the AFHF congress July, 16-17, 2009 to culminate in a Special awards on July 17, 2009

• We shall be having live telecast of all the matches of the tournament and Companies and institutions interested in sponsoring this aspect are invited to contact the LOC- Secretariat for details.

• There abound several opportunities for corporate Ghana and this is the time to take advantage.

It must be stressed that the Ultra modern water-based stadium is fitted with three (3), hospitality centres which will be available for use by any institution or person that wants to lease and run them.

Your Excellencies, we at the LOC are poised for the job and we are even excited that President Obama will be arriving on the opening of the Tournament. The Nation and indeed Hockey Africa, expect that he will be arriving at the New Stadium with His Excellency John Evans Attah Mills to perform the opening ceremony. This is going to be Woow!

Once again, the LOC is ready and available to deliver to the world of Hockey a dream and exciting tournament. I thank you.