54 | THE VOICE DECEMBER 2022
TOP SPORTS COVERAGE 24/7 VOICE-ONLINE.CO.UK/SPORT
OF SPORT NEWSPAPER
AMBITION: Joshua Buatsi, centre, at Wisdom Boxing Gym in Accra
Empowering youth Boxer Joshua Buatsi is on a mission to help communities in Ghana. By Rodney Hinds
A
S BOXER Joshua Buatsi’s professional career steadily pivots, so does his ultimate ambition to empower the youth of his born nation of Ghana. Buatsi, the 2016 Rio Olympic bronze light-heavyweight medallist, has so far made a favourable and prominent influence within boxing and has become a force to be reckoned with in his division. He was born in Tema, a city on the bight of Benin and Atlantic
coast of Ghana, to Christian parents from the Volta region of the Anlo Ewe ethnic group. He lived his juvenile years in the country before moving to Croydon, south London with his family at the age of nine. He now has 16 professional fights under his belt, (16-013 TKOs). The connection Buatsi has with the place of his birth never waned. His love for the people of Ghana has always been a key part of his make-up and fuel to his ambi-
tions. These key fundamentals, together with a deep Christian faith, has been the inspiration to set up a foundation in Ghana to give back to the community he was raised in. The mission of the foundation is to focus on the amelioration of the youth from under-served communities in Ghana. The ultimate goals are to strengthen their innate physical and mental ability, to develop a high level of academic prowess, discipline, self-esteem, and confidence through the disci-
plines boxing provides. The foundation is split into supporting two divisions; an orphanage, New Life Nungua Children’s Home International is a registered non-governmental and non-profit organisation founded from a burning desire to aid the development of the homeless orphans in Ghana. In addition, Wisdom Boxing Gym has been set up, which is an educational fitness institution focused on youth development, education and life skills through physical fitness and boxing.
Top coach Lorna Boothe looking to raise standards in track and field By Rodney Hinds FORMER COMMONWEALTH Games gold medallist Lorna Boothe MBE is among the country’s leading athletics coaches that have launched the British Athletics Coaches Association (BACA), with the aim of providing support and representation for all British athletics coaches and helping to raise standards in track and field in Britain. Boothe, right, has gone on to become a top-level coach whose achievements were recognised in the 2019 Honours List with the MBE for ‘services to sports coaching and administration’. Heavily involved at
club level and as a director of England Athletics, Boothe has helped set up the IAAF Academy, the World Class Coaches Club and the lottery-funded World Class Performance Programme. With BACA, she will liaise with the European Athletics Coaches Association and the Global Athletics Coaching Academy. And BACA’s first innovation will be to provide expert advice and mentoring to its member coaches from a pool of some of Britain’s greatest ever competitors and coaches, through its BACA Advisers’
Panel. The Advisers’ Panel will provide BACA members with the experience and knowhow of top coaches from across the whole range of track and field events, including para specialists. The BACA Advisers’ Panel includes former world champion distance runner Liz McColgan, multievent specialist Rafer Johnson and jumps expert John Shepherd.
“BACA has been formed to assist British athletics coaches move into a properly managed volunteer and professional future,” said Mike Winch, one of BACA’s founders. The other founders are Alex Starr, Judy Oakes OBE and Sarah Hewitt. Winch added: “We aim to provide coaches with the tools to fulfil their aspirations within the sport, to deliver the best coaching assistance to their athletes possible.” BACA membership is open to all qualified, licensed athletics coaches. The association has its own members’ code of conduct and supports the UK Athletics and European Athletics’ wel-
fare and diversity policies. BACA will liaise closely with the European Athletics Coaches Association and Global Athletics Coaching Academy. BACA will operate independently of the national and regional governing bodies, while intending to work alongside the governing bodies to discuss coaching issues. After a long period of consultation and planning, the founders have registered BACA as a not-for-profit company, as well as developing a presence across social media, including a Facebook group which already has 1,600 members. Visit www.baca.uk.net.
