By Desmond Tunde Coker
The President of the Sierra Leone Golfers Association, Ibrahim Teto Sankoh has told Premier News that he has been appointed as committee member of the African Golfers Federation West Africa Zone B during the Federation’s biennial congress during which the Africa Tournament was being played.
According to Mr. Conteh he is the first Sierra Leonean to be called upon to serve at such a high level, and he promised to do well so that Sierra Leone will continue to be recognized at such levels. He thanked his colleagues for believing in him to be part of the executive.
He went on to state that he will use his office to improve Golf in Sierra Leone by lobbying for equipment and training facilities to capacitate young amateur golfers for the betterment of the country. He further stated that the Congress he attended had been an eye-opener for growth in Sierra Leone as he has been networking with thirty countries to lobby for help on behalf of Golf in Sierra Leone.
When asked how he intends to contribute towards changing Golf in Sierra Leone, Conteh responded that he hopes to create contact with scouts, thus encouraging them to visit Sierra Leone. He highlighted that the Association is currently grappling with three challenges; one of which is securing proper equipment for people to play golf; secondly, lack of training facilities; and thirdly lack of golf courses in the Country. He added that one thing he is trying to do is for the Association to get golf courses across the country to aid more young players to represent Sierra Leone in the future.
He thanked the Sports Ministry and the National Sports Authority (NSA) for the support they had been giving to sports, and called on other parastatals to also promote sports in Sierra Leone. “Golf is not a sport for the Elite people, but can be played by everyone who has the intention of playing it,” he concluded.