excerpts:
...Look at the roster of track-and-field athletes at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, a suburb of Nashville in the southern United States, and you will notice there are more Africans than Americans.
They come from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. Middle Tennessee assistant coach Andrew Owusu, who is from Ghana, credits legendary head coach Dean Hayes for the diverse body of student athletes.
“Coach Hayes actually has a long history of recruiting international athletes," Owusu says with a smile, so Middle Tennessee's sports teams are a mix of American and foreign athletes.....
...Ampomah majored in criminal justice and also studied coaching, because he hopes to help other aspiring Ghanaian athletes. He is the captain of Ghana's athletics team in Rio.
He said he learned a lot from Hayes while at Middle Tennessee State, just as other international students before him did.
“He's coached a lot of Ghana athletes and I know where he took them, and with his experience I knew what he could do to help me,” Ampomah said. “I know what he did for them. I know they became great. They became Olympians, and I knew if I went there, I could also become an Olympian.”
Amponsah added that Hayes and his entire staff, including Owusu, made them feel like family.
“The coaches are so nice to the athletes, so whenever I go back home [to Ghana], I talk to other top athletes and suggest they come," she said. "Hayes is a father to us. That's why I would say a lot of Africans are there.”
VOA:
Ghanaians' Olympic Dreams Realized Through US Studies, Training
...Look at the roster of track-and-field athletes at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, a suburb of Nashville in the southern United States, and you will notice there are more Africans than Americans.
They come from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. Middle Tennessee assistant coach Andrew Owusu, who is from Ghana, credits legendary head coach Dean Hayes for the diverse body of student athletes.
“Coach Hayes actually has a long history of recruiting international athletes," Owusu says with a smile, so Middle Tennessee's sports teams are a mix of American and foreign athletes.....
...Ampomah majored in criminal justice and also studied coaching, because he hopes to help other aspiring Ghanaian athletes. He is the captain of Ghana's athletics team in Rio.
He said he learned a lot from Hayes while at Middle Tennessee State, just as other international students before him did.
“He's coached a lot of Ghana athletes and I know where he took them, and with his experience I knew what he could do to help me,” Ampomah said. “I know what he did for them. I know they became great. They became Olympians, and I knew if I went there, I could also become an Olympian.”
Amponsah added that Hayes and his entire staff, including Owusu, made them feel like family.
“The coaches are so nice to the athletes, so whenever I go back home [to Ghana], I talk to other top athletes and suggest they come," she said. "Hayes is a father to us. That's why I would say a lot of Africans are there.”
VOA:
Ghanaians' Olympic Dreams Realized Through US Studies, Training
