Dr Mustapha Ahmed, Minister of Youth and Sports, has lauded the efforts of Ghana Taekwondo Federation (GTF) and the West Africa Mission (WAM) Taekwondo Academy in promoting Taekwondo in Ghana.

Dr Ahmed said this during the closing ceremony of the 1st Taekwondo Coaching License Course organised by the GTF at the new Taekwondo gymnasium of the WAM Taekwondo Academy in Tema.

In a release issued to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday, in Accra, he said it is important to train and license coaches to ensure the safety, discipline and high-level skills that are required to combat sports such as Taekwondo.

He said that the time has come for private organisations to partner government in promoting sports, calling on philanthropists to emulate WAM to support the development of sports in Ghana.

It said Mr Frederick L. Otu, Taekwondo president explained that the week-long coaching license course, which began at the Accra Sports Stadium and ended at the WAM Taekwondo Gymnasium in Tema, would continue every six months to rope in all Taekwondo teachers until the end of 2016 after which only licensed coaches would be sanctioned to teach the sport in Ghana.

He said on the whole, the Federation is confident that this first group of licensed instructors were given the requisite skills to be able to coach their students and run their clubs successfully, adding that the course would also be taken to the northern regions to make it more accessible to practitioners around those areas.

It said the course covered subjects such as Taekwondo History, Theory and Practice, Club Management, Leadership and Personal Development, First Aid and Safety and Competition Rules, training in Basic Forms, Sparring and Poomsae.

It said in all, 24 coaches including one female successfully went through the course and were awarded the license.

The chief course instructor and managing instructor of the WAM Taekwondo Academy, Grandmaster Sung Tai Kim, invited Ghanaians to practice Taekwondo for socio-economic development.

He also assured Taekwondo practitioners that the WAM Taekwondo Academy’s doors are wide open to all.