Joseph Conrad once said that “being a woman is a terribly difficult trade since it consists principally of dealings with men.” 

Looking around at the El Wak Stadium on Saturday, one wouldn't have noticed any difficulty for the women there gathered for the 2016 edition of the Joy Sports Invitational.

The ladies were well-represented, with their numbers matching their male counterparts boot-for-boot in everything from basketball to charged, chanting jama sessions!

Of the 14 Chief Executive Officers present to spur their teams on, one dominant face was that of Tracy Boamah. Nugget Engineering's CEO gave a ready smile to everyone, pumped her fist and screamed herself hoarse in the jama sessions of her troops.

In fact, she actually nearly scored a goal in the CEO's center-to-goal competition!

Among the list of final winners on the day were some remarkable women. Juliana Aryee from Unirob totally blazed her competition to win the 50m dash, while the Sapholda Ventures female team raced to win the Ladies Penalty Shootout in some style.

Nestle Ghana won the Team Spirit award, which was essentially a competition for the company with the loudest and most creative jama songs. And as expected, the ladies were in the thick of events.

Joy News David Andoh was there to get shots of how the ladies made the event brighter, and better.

HERE WE GO!

When Stephen Eku won the CEO center to goal competition, the trophy was held aloft by his Adlene and displayed to the gathered crowd! 

Juliana Aryee from Unirob (below), makers of Polar Ice Gel, bamboozled the struggling pack to win the 50m dash in 8s.

...while the rest struggled to catch up!

"Hey, did you see that?" These MGL ladies spot a light moment during the day. 

The event was a chance for some companies to sell a product or two...

 

EMIGOH Ghana, makers of Yomi Yoghurt, won two trophies on the day, ably supported by their women...

GHACEM pride themselves on being the nation builders. Clearly, no nation can stand without powerful ladies...

...and she knows it!

Marilyn Ofori (middle, below) from Nestle was the boss lady all day, coordinating the company's participation at the event.

From the administrative side, the indefatigable ladies of the Multimedia Group were everywhere, serving particpants with helpful information and assistance. From left: Hitz FM's Anita (in purple and yellow), Joy News' Elleisha (in red), Joy Sports' Baba Tandoh (in black) and Offeibea (MGL Events, in white armband)

GHACEM Ladies be like: "We'll finish these teams here, easy!". Sadly, they couldn't win anything.

When you see them, you know 'em. Best Western Premier Hotel's ladies added colour to the El Wak Stadium...

...and had plenty smiles to go round!

While there were many smiles, many also could not bear the scorching sun, and they didn't hide it...

Sun or no sun, these ladies were determined to have the best of the wonderful atmosphere...

Among the 14 participating companies, Tracy Boamah of Nuggets Engineering was the only female CEO at Saturday's event. Here, she's congratulated by CEOs (from left to right: GHACEM, EMIGOH, Unirob, and GTP) after she narrowly missed her center-to-goal shot. 

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The 2016 Joy Sports Invitational (JSI 2016) was a well-patronised event that continued a rich, decade-long tradition of bringing corporate Ghana together to ease off the working stress in a productive way.

There were 14 companies present, taking part in eight different disciplines.

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READ: And Nestle won - how 14 teams' jama dominated the JSI 2016

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL LIST OF JSI 2016 WINNERS [+ PHOTOS!] 

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE CEOS AND BRANDS WHO MADE THE EVENT A SUCCESS

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Follow Gary on Twitter: @garyalsmith. Get more updates on Facebook/Twitter with the #JoySports hashtag