Takoradi Technical University’s Basketball team who won the Western Regional Basketball League has officially presented their trophy to the Vice Chancellor, Rev. Prof. John Frank Eshun. This is the third consecutive time the TTU Basketball team has won the Western Regional Basketball League.
Receiving the trophy on behalf of management, the Vice-Chancellor of TTU, Rev. John Frank Eshun, congratulated the team for their successes and encouraged them to work harder for the university as they have the support of the university.
“I’m proud to receive this trophy from you. I have heard a lot about the basketball team. We have been following you and know you have been winning trophies. This is the first time of seeing you, and I on behalf of management congratulate you for this wonderful achievement you have achieved so far. Keep fighting and I believe only the best will come from you. I want to assure you that management is strongly behind you and I want you to give out your best so that going forward, you will win all the games that you participate in,” he said.
The Vice Chancellor also challenged the coach of the basketball to expose the players to opportunities in other universities.
“It is about time we sell our players, expose them to other universities for higher degrees like Masters, PhD and help some of them to come back to teach in our university. You should also learn and do your best,” he urged.
The Coach of the TTU Basketball team, Prof. Owusu-Ansah Ankrah, who led the team for the three-time-honour urged the players not to only focus on playing basketball but their academics as well since that is their main reason for being in the university. He warned to withdraw their scholarships from them if they do not take their academics seriously.
“The learning is very important. In fact, I’m going to have a talk with them after this meeting. I think most of them are depending so much on their skills but when you go abroad and you are on scholarship and you don’t learn, the scholarship will be taken from you. From here, let it get into your heads that if you don’t learn, we shall take the scholarship from you because what brought you to school is your education. Basketball is just a plus, so you must learn,” he cautioned.
Prof. Owusu-Ansah Ankrah, again pleaded with management to support the team in the upcoming West African Universities game.
“We have long qualified for the West African Universities game and I our team is capable of taking part in such a competition. We want to appeal to you that when the time comes, you push us because we need to be there and I’m sure when we go there, we are definitely going to make the raise the image of the university,” he pleaded.
Head of TTU Sports, Dr. Ebenezer Ackwonu-Mensah, while thanking the Vice Chancellor and management for the immerse support given to the university’s sports team over the years, also re-emphasised the need for the basketball players to take their studies seriously.
“We have about 11 disciplines. Out of these 11 disciplines, when it comes to basketball, the number of students who are on the scholarship list is more. We know what you have been doing. So, once we are considering you, you should also do your best to make sure you justify why we should give you scholarship. This is because, we give it to exceptional students and not just anyone. So, if you are going to have it, then make sure you work hard for it. Management is always ready to assist you people, so you should also reciprocate by doing your best for the institution.”, he noted.
