The Ghana Beach Soccer Association (GBSA) have renewed its partnership with headline sponsor CAL Bank for another season.
Executives of the association last week held fruitful discussions with CAL Bank and agreed on a package valued at GH¢ 44,000.
This amount will cover the entire sponsorship package for the 2014 championship season scheduled to kick off in April with the association expected to look for additional funding to meet the yearly budget which is closer to Gh¢200,000.
According to George Addo who is the spokesman for the GBSA, the association has received half of the sponsorship package of GHC 22,000.00.
“This is a positive development and we are grateful to CAL Bank for their loyal support of beach soccer in Ghana. Now we have to look for more support in order to run a consistent, exciting and as professional a league can be,” he said.
CAL Bank’s sponsorship which was brokered by the GBSA President ,Yaw Ampofo-Ankrah has aided the rapid development and growth of Beach Soccer in Ghana.
From just ten clubs in 2010, the GBSA increased its membership to twenty clubs with over 600 registered beach soccer players in 2011.
Ghana participated in her first international beach soccer tournament in 2013 when a team made up entirely of amateur players represented the country in Al Jadida, Morocco for a slot at the 2013 FIFA World Cup.
During the 2012-2013 season, ten championship clubs received an amount of GH¢1,500 each from the package.
The other ten clubs in Division one received GH¢400 each, also coming from the approved budget.
The 2012-2013 season ended in grand style at the La Beach Soccer Arena as Keta Sunset Sports beat off close contenders Ada Assurance by three points to retain their title as Ghana Beach Soccer Champions.
It is expected that the Ghana Football Association GFA would be guiding the GBSA full throttle in the coming season for the first time.
Meanwhile, Beach Soccer World Wide (BSWW) has released the first ever official ranking for the sport and places Ghana as the 8th best team on the African continent and the 70th worldwide.
Credit: Ghana Beach Soccer Association