Ghana launches drone racing leagues, training, and national selection pathway

Ghana’s drone push moved from announcement to pathway on April 25, when the Ghana Air Sports Federation joined ESports Ghana and GHUD Park to open registrations for drone soccer, e-drone soccer and drone racing experiences, training and leagues. The key shift is not the calendar itself but the structure behind it: newcomers get a clear place to start, then the best performers can climb into formal competition.

Training and experiences will run on Mondays and Tuesdays at GHUD Park on the Accra Mall premises, while league dates are still to be announced. That staged rollout matters in a sport where access often decides who gets in first. Drone soccer and e-drone soccer lower the barrier for players who are still learning control, positioning and teamwork, while high-speed FPV drone racing offers a harder edge for pilots ready to move into the F9U class the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale uses for Radio Control Multi-rotor Drone Racing.

The bigger prize is selection. Winners from the leagues will be chosen for the National Air Sports team and sent on to international championships, turning a new local circuit into a real sporting ladder. Isaac Nana Vanderpuije framed drones as a core part of the air sports industry, tied not just to competition but to aerospace careers and recognition as international athletes. That is the kind of framing that can keep a young sport from being treated as a novelty.

The launch also sits inside a wider national push. Ghana declared April and May as Air Sports Months, with April featuring a paragliding festival and May bringing hot air balloon rides, skydiving, drone racing competitions and drone soccer tournaments. The federation also said it is working with the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority on a regulatory framework, while planning national air sports leagues and talent development for international competition. Workshops by certified instructors from Croatia, South Africa and Switzerland are part of the same program.

GHUD Park gives the project a ready-made base. A 2024 MyJoyOnline report described the venue as a leisure and events site with a grassed event area, skating rink, children’s playground, container bar, stalls, seating area, open plaza and car park. That kind of space matters for a sport trying to move from demos to repeatable competition. Ghana’s esports scene also adds another layer, with the Ghana Esports Federation calling itself the national body for competitive gaming and saying the Ministry of Sports and Recreation was open to working with esports after the federation’s recognition by the National Sports Authority in 2024.

Internationally, the fit is clear. The FAI says drone soccer is governed under F9A rules and was first staged at world level in Shanghai in November 2025, with 18 countries registered for the 2025 World Drone Soccer Championships. Ghana’s partnership with Zen Palms Beach Resort & Spa in the Volta Region to scale adventure air sports suggests the country is trying to build more than one launchpad. If the leagues, training blocks and selection pathway hold together, Ghana could end up with a model other African countries copy rather than a one-off event they admire from afar.