From Lancaster To Accra Building In Africa With iUNGO World
- Aug 28, 2024
- 5 min read
Jerry Johnson is a Graduate of Rider University & a former professional basketball player in Europe (2005-2018) & Hall of Famer. He is currently Director of Athletics at La Academia Charter School & CEO/Founder of iUNGO World platform.
As founder of the sports media platform iUNGO World, I've got my sights on bridging whole continents and cultures through basketball, my first love. The first goal is to start an intercontinental youth basketball tournament from Ghana starting next year (2025). After three weeks in Ghana, I've laid the necessary groundwork for a bridge that stretches from my hometown of Lancaster, PA, to Accra. Going to Ghana wasn't just a visit; I now realize it was a major moment in the course of an ongoing dream I've been having.
I juiced the moment I stepped off the plane in Accra. It was about noon, and the Ghanaian sun hits differently than anywhere else I've been. My business partner and head of operations for iUNGO World, Julian Collazo, also made the trip with me. It's a long flight—from JFK to Cairo, Egypt, and on to Ghana. That's 17 hours of flight time alone. It was rough, but it was worth every minute. We hopped off prepared, ready to jump directly into a 3:00 pm meeting. As we made our way through the terminal and baggage claim, we spotted Emmanuel Nii Latary, our head of operations in Africa, and our videographer, Usef. We exchanged the usual pleasantries, grabbed our gear, and went immediately to work.
On the ride toward our accommodations, I couldn't help but take in Accra's energy; it gave me the boost I needed to power through the jet lag quickly rolling in. One of the first stops was a community meeting at a local youth team practice court and soccer field. I have to admit I was initially struck by the contrast between the energy of the young athletes and the state of their facilities. I've played on basketball courts all over the world, so the conditions of the courts are essential to me. Cracks were all over the court, and the actual hoops had definitely seen better days. Next to that was a large, unkempt soccer field—which is somehow used by an 18-team area league. These athletes deserve so much more than what I saw.
What caught my eye, though, was this attached brick building. That's when I saw the vision: transforming the building and the playing spaces into a mini sports complex. I shared my idea with the community members in the meeting. I showed them a vision of proper offices, media rooms, and spaces for talent development—a podcast room, a recording studio, and a live-streaming hub for iUNGO World. I painted the picture of refurbished courts and a refreshed soccer field. The excitement in their eyes, on the first day of the trip no less, powered me through my trip.
Now, I realized coming in that the dream I was selling required strong partnerships, which we set out to lock in from the start of the trip. Our collaboration with the Ghana Basketball Federation has been a cornerstone of our efforts, and the visit only strengthened that bond. There's something about sitting face to face with your partners and them seeing your effort right away. Just the fact that Julian and I had actually come this whole way ready with plans was a win for the partnership.
The GBF's support and expertise have been invaluable in fully understanding the basketball landscape. It's one thing to talk about stuff on Zoom or Google Meets calls; it's another thing to have them walk you through the reality in real-time, right there in plain sight. It just makes everything more real. Their support gave us a little 'administrative' juice, so to speak, that crucial connection we needed heading into our two meetings with the National Sports Association of Ghana. I'll never forget walking into those meetings, heart pounding. We met with the Deputy Head Director of the NSA, and let me tell you, I've been less nervous in situations with 10 seconds left on the clock during my basketball career.
But we laid out the vision of iUNGO World, explaining how we aimed to boost sports engagement and provide opportunities for Ghanaian athletes. He listened and asked questions; ultimately, we were on the same page. Securing the NSA's support is an absolute game-changer; it was the key that opened all necessary doors. We submitted a complete event proposal with logistics for the planned international competition launch in August 2025. The NSA's willingness to push the proposed dates through their board was a big win for us and affirmed their commitment to iUNGO World's success.
These partnerships are way more than just names on calendar invites, emails, and forms; these relationships are the lifeblood of our mission. Nothing can be accomplished without them. We didn't build all this to come here, make a splash, gather our successes, and go home. We aren't built that way. iUNGO World wasn't built that way.
Alright, I guess, at this point, you're like, "So what's this thing called, and when is it?" I'm glad you asked, and I apologize for somewhat burying the lede. The crown jewel of our plans in Ghana will be the iUNGO World Intercontinental Cup, set for August 7-17, 2025, in Accra for a U18 boys' basketball tournament. It will be eight nations from various regions: four African teams, one USA team, a team from Central Asia, a European club, and a Caribbean contingent. If you recall, I played in Kazakhstan and Turkey, so I just built on those connections. This is why you have to make sure you get to know people when and while you have the opportunity.
This tournament won't be just about who wins on the court; all we think about is the talent on and off the floor. Vendors and sponsors will benefit, as will the young, enterprising journalists and technical talent. And this won't only be a physical coming together of forces. The iUNGO World app will be at the heart of this event, live-streaming games, showing behind-the-scenes coverage, and player profiles—the works.
I want to be extremely clear: this will be a tremendous lift for everyone involved. We are looking into non-profit offerings from groups that may align with our mission, and support from local businesses and institutions. Pulling off an event of this magnitude will have its fair share of challenges, including the facility refurbishments and build-outs necessary to host a world-class tournament. The stability of the technical infrastructure, including the potential use of satellite technology to shoot and live-stream games, will be a significant focus for us. The logistical hurdles of coordinating travel, activities, and accommodations will be considerable.
But we know that if we can get this done, we'll have a proof of concept for what iUNGO World is capable of. The impact will ripple far beyond ten days of a basketball tournament.
Read more from Jerry Johnson
Jerry Johnson, Global Sports Business Enthusiast
Jerry Johnson is a true leader who is immersed in presenting sports opportunities and global sports business. Understanding the power of sports and opportunities is a life changer when used strategically. Johnson has since come back to his hometown to create sports opportunities for high schoolers at La Academia who have never had sports programming in the 20 years of school existence until . He is CEO/Founder of iUNGO World “The Evolution of Sports Social Media” platform.
