Taekwondo federation opens Kumasi drive to spot young talent in five regions

Pinned summary · as of 15:42

The Ghana Taekwondo Federation (GTF) has begun a campaign to carry the martial art beyond the big cities, starting with an event in Kumasi. Central, Bono, Upper West and Northern regions are lined up after Ashanti, and the aim is to find young athletes early.

What we know

• The Ghana Taekwondo Federation has started a Regional Taekwondo Awareness Campaign, launched in Kumasi, that is meant to take the sport to young people outside established urban centres.
• The campaign will visit five regions: Ashanti, Northern, Upper West, Bono and Central.
• Both reports describe the aim as finding young talent and using the sport to build discipline and fitness among young people.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Graphic Online reported that about 500 pupils drawn from ten private schools in Ashanti joined the Kumasi opening. Happy Ghana carried the same figure, and The Vaultz News did not report an attendance count.
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  The two main reports give different slogans for the campaign. The Vaultz News said the federation's message is "Promoting Taekwondo, Inspiring Champions", while Graphic Online said the launch ran under a theme centred on awareness, discipline, fitness and youth development.
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  The Vaultz News announced the campaign under the name Talent is Everywhere, with a 10:00 a.m. start on Friday, 25 September 2026, at Kumasi's Baba Yara stadium. Graphic Online did not give the name, time or venue.
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  Graphic Online reported that GTF president Frederick Lartey Otu said the sport's future depends on raising confident, responsible and disciplined young people alongside champions, and that the programme would give athletes a route from schools to regional and national competition. Happy Ghana repeated his call for closer cooperation among schools, parents, coaches and sports bodies.
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  According to Graphic Online, Obenfo Nana Kwasi Gyetuah, who directs the private schools council (GNACOPS), urged a rethink of the place of sport in education, saying "When we change the language, we change the priority".
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  Graphic Online reported that Nana Gyaama Dakwa, the National Sports Authority's Ashanti Regional Director, promised support for grassroots sport and said Taekwondo could build fitness, alertness and self-defence skills in children.
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  Graphic Online said the launch included demonstrations of forms and self-defence by pupils and practitioners, and that the federation's national executive board handed kit and uniforms to the regional Taekwondo association in Ashanti. No other independent report has confirmed these details.

Why it matters for Ghana

For families and schools in Ashanti and the four other regions on the route, the campaign could bring a new organised sport and a possible route into competitive Taekwondo for children who live far from Accra. The federation says it wants private schools involved, which puts the programme in front of many pupils at once. Whether promising athletes actually find a path to regional and national events will depend on follow-up beyond the launch.