Sports
Bring back the love of juvenile football
The glittering moment of Ghana football has diminished drastically due to the neglect of the colt’s system.
Football loving fans do no longer patronize the game because they do not enjoy the most intriguing and entertaining skills of the typical Ghanaian game. All boils down to the fact that players do not mature in the game before getting to the bigger stage; the development structures no more exist.
Decades ago, grassroots football was superior and drew support from across the length and breadth of various communities. Seasoned community games were massive and true talents were discovered. The basic schools league was one avenue where talents were unearthed and groomed from the schools to zonal, district, regional and the national levels.
The inter-schools and colleges competitions organised for secondary schools and colleges, was also principal in the development of football in the country. The colt’s league which saw hundreds and thousands thronged to centres like Asem, Tafo, Suame, Ashiaman, Tema, etc, was a delight to watch.
Today, all these structures are left in limbo. Little or no attention is given to the juvenile structures which laid the foundation for Ghana football. School competitions are haphazardly organised; colt’s teams are dying out and football academies are struggling to survive.
In this modern era where football has become a profitable commodity as gold, many football fields that were used by some communities and colts teams have been turned to building sites.
The juvenile football which is popularly known as “Colts Football” was the main building blocks for football players from the 70s. Great talents like AbediAyew Pele, Stephen Appiah, AsamoahGyan, MichealEssien and many others, passed through the colts system to the world stage. Today, these names are household names, not only in Ghana but also, throughout the continent and across the globe.
The days of colt’s teams like Corners Babies, Anokye Stars, Great Falcons; Mighty Victory, Owareman, Dawu Youngsters, etc, are no more as strong as they used to be. They are lost in the mirrors of talent development.
Why should it be so? Have we as people and stakeholders of the game, considered why league matches are played in virtually empty stadia whilst sports betting and DSTV centres get choked with fans?
Player development structures have been strengthened across Europe. League clubs and non-league clubs have Academies or Centres of Excellence, and development scheme or community projects respectively. How many premier clubs in Ghana have academies or youth development system?
In Spain, the structures are such that, aside the clubs’ development, there is provincial and national structures at all levels of development (i.e. U10, U13, U15, U17, U19 and U21) with five players for each position. This is the reason why foreign clubs likeBarcelona, Real Madrid,Chelsea and Manchester United have amassed gargantuan fan base in Ghana than our own local clubs.
All stakeholders must put their hands on deck to revive the spirit of Ghana football through the juvenile development. The Ghana Football Association (GFA), the Ministry of Youth and Sports and National Sports Authority must engage in extensive deliberations and collaboration to find solid measures to mitigate the numerous challenges facing the juvenile sector.Training centres must be constructed across the country to ensure accessibility. Technical and professional training should be organised for colt club owners and coaches to enhance physical, psychological and technical development of players. Financial and motivational support should be facilitated to liberate juvenile clubs.
The Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service must ensure the teaching of Physical Education at all levels of education. It is said that “sound mind resides in sound body.” Schools must be adequately resourced to organize effective sports festivals to prepare athletes for the future.
Corporate entities and individuals should emulate the likes of McDan and Baby Jet Foundation to sponsor and organise juvenile sports competitions across the country. Media organisations must dedicate space in their airings to support the juvenile system.
For our national teams to bounce back to title winning ways, we must turn our attention to the juvenile development and give it the necessary support and love it deserves. Let us bring back the love of juvenile football. –The writer is a student of GIJ
Source: Ghanaian Times
Sports
GoldStars GPL feat no fluke
No prophet in Ghana would have been taken serious with prophesies of Bibiani GoldStars becoming the new champions of the 2024/25 Ghana Premier League (GPL).
That is not to take anything away from Coach Frimpong Manso, an Asante Kotoko legend, and his boys for the yeoman’s job they did in the just ended season.
They deserve every bit of the plaudits coming from well-wishers.
They came, they saw and conquered on their fourth year (2021/2022 season) in the elite stage of Ghana football.
Of course, this can only be a reality in the end but not a sound prediction at the start of the season.
But, so has it been. Stories like that of GoldStars sharply brings to mind a similar fairytale orchestrated in the advanced English Premier League (GPL) with the 2015/16 edition.
In the face of the Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool dominance, Leicester emerged with a bang, conquering every hurdle in sight with unsung heroes like Jamie Vardy, Wilfred Ndidi, Shinji Okazaki, Leonardo Ulloa, Danny Drinkwater, Robert Huth, Riyad Mahrez and others.
There was no indication of that sort at the start of the season.
As usual, the focus was on the aforementioned heavyweights but Leicester took the competition by storm to record a historic win.
Back home, the GoldStars story is not different. Despite the recent struggles by perennial favourites, Accra Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko, the two have always found their ways in fans prediction regarding the side to emerge winners.
Interestingly, both sides just managed to end up in the top four after Nations FC’s decision to abandon a game against Basake Holy Stars who cost them dearly, in the end, forfeiting the said game and going ahead to suffer a further three points deduction penalty.
Nations FC were actually the top favourites for the title until that ill-fated match against Basake Holy Stars.
Campaigning for the second year in the competition, very few followers of the game gave the Timber giants any chance.
But in the same ‘Rambo’ style, teams like Medeama SC and Aduana Stars descended on the GPL, GoldStars emerged with all guns blazing, strategically employing a tactic of making the Dun’s Park in Bibiani, a waterloo for visiting teams.
On a few occasions, they sprung surprises on the journey, recording a few upsets against gullible teams including Hearts of Oak in Accra.
They had a promising coach like Frimpong Manso who is yet to establish himself among the elites local coaches maybe because he is yet to work with any of the established club sides in the country.
But winning the local competition with a less endowed club makes you a legend, and truly, he has become one.
To management and other members of the technical team, one could only congratulate them for a job well executed.
The players have a huge role to play in proving that the feat was no fluke and that GoldStars has come to stay; and would continue to make an impact in the local game.
Much is not known about these players except Vincent Atinga who plied his trade with Hearts of Oak and Medeama SC. Others like Samuel Attah Kumi, Frank Amankwah, Kelvin Oppong, Charles Gyamfi Kamara, Abdul Farouk Amoaful, Gideon Anaba, Samuel Acheampong, Foster Agyei and Yakubu Haqq remain emerging talents aiming to carve a niche for themselves.
Definitely with the new challenge, some areas of the team would be strengthened as they face the finest sides on the continent.
Another season with a new champion should also serve as a wake-up call for the likes of Hearts or Oak and Asante Kotoko to quickly return to their glory days lest they lose their enviable place among the football elite clubs. Well-done GoldStars.
By Andrew Nortey
Sports
Golden Kick, a tricky obstacle for Kotoko in MTN FA Cup final tomorrow
The University of Ghana Stadium will come alive tomorrow when Ghanaian giants, Kumasi Asante Kotoko, take on lower tier side, Golden Kicks FC, in a thrilling climax to the 2024/25 MTN FA Cup final tomorrow at exactly 5pm.
The much anticipated game, which is more than just a battle for silverware but a meeting of tradition and ambition for both teams, is expected to draw thousands of football fanatics across the country to the Legon stadium for what promises to be a dramatic and tricky finale to this season’s domestic cup competition.
After an unsuccessful season in the Ghana Premier League which saw the Reds miss out on the title to Bibiani GoldStars, the Porcupine Warriors will be desperate to finish the season on a high by clinching the title to secure a place in the next CAF interclub competition.
The Reds have a rich history in the FA Cup competition having won it nine times and will be eyeing their 10th title to stamp their authority as the overall best.
Before reaching this stage, Asante Kotoko eliminated formidable opponents like True Democracy, Sekondi Eleven Wise and Berekum Chelsea in the semi-final.
The availability of players like Justice Blay, Kwame Opoku, Frederick Asare, Peter Amidu Acquah and striker Albert Amoah, among other notable players will be a big boost to Coach Karim Zito’s side.
Meanwhile, the task will not be an easy one for Kotoko looking at the way their opponents reached the final with wins over Accra Hearts of Oak and Bechem United before climaxing it with Attram d’ Visser.
Coached by young and tactical Fiifi Parker Hanson, Golden Kicks have a combined youthful team with tactical discipline to punch well above their weight and relish the opportunity to shock the giants once more on a bigger stage.
This final is more than just a contest between Premier League royalty and a hungry underdog but rather a tale of two contrasting football identities. Kotoko brings the weight of tradition, experience, legacy and pressure while Golden Kicks arrive with nothing to lose and everything to prove which makes the game a promised one, full of thrills and fireworks.
By Enoch Ntiamoah
