Invest in youth development - Kwasi Appiah

The immediate-past Head Coach of the Senior National Team, the Black Stars, James Kwasi Appiah, has called for a massive investment in the development and growth of grassroots football.

“We need to do more to improve the state of our community parks and resource them with the requisite facilities, train juvenile coaches and also engage in more community football games,” he noted.

This is because the sustainable development of football hinged on the creation of a pool of talents at the grassroots level, he observed, saying the formative years of Ghanaian players must, therefore, be taken seriously.

“Almost every good player is first identified and nurtured at the basic level - where the rudiments of football such as passing, ball control, shooting, penalty kicks and sportsmanship are taught,” Coach Appiah told the GNA Sports, in Kumasi.

This was on the sideline of a ground-breaking ceremony for work to start on the construction of the Bantama Artificial Park, a project being financed by the National Lottery Authority (NLA).

The project, an initiative of Mr. Francis Asenso Boakye, a Deputy Chief of Staff, is expected to be completed in six months, and being executed by Messrs. Wembley Sports Construction Limited, the contractor.

Bantama, one of the largest sub-metropolitan areas in Kumasi, is noted for producing great players over the years.

Mention could be made of Prince Opoku Polley and Sarfo Gyamfi, who all featured for Asante Kotoko, one of Ghana’s most successful club, as well as the Black Stars many times in their playing career.

The duo played greater roles in the fearsome Asante Kotoko side that demolished Egyptian giants, Zamalek, 5-1 in the second leg of the 1987 African Clubs Championship (CAF Champions League), en-route to the semi-final of the competition.

They also featured prominently in the Ghana's squad that emerged as the runners-up in the 1992 African Cup of Nations (AfCoN) in Senegal.

Mr. Asenso Boakye, in an address, said the project was his commitment to seeing to the total development of sports in the area, and hinted of plans to also develop to standard the Bantama Lebanon Club - a popular facility for the hand games.

Alhaji Karim Grunsah, Founder and President of King Faisal Babies F/C, Professor Peter Twumasi, Chief Executive Officer of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Mr. Osei Ameyaw, Director-General of the NLA and Coach Ibrahim Tanko, former Black Stars’ player and member of the Ghana Football Association technical team, were all present at the ceremony.