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Sports Features of Thursday, 20 January 2011

Source: Ransford Frempong Peeprah

Foreign Based Starlets (Conclusion and Solution)

Kindly permit me to begin the part two of the Foreign Based Starlets article (FBS) with a wisdom word. “A woman that is afraid of contractions will cause her child to die of suffocation.” This means we have no choice but to push until the best solution to these problems is brought to day light. All I can say is help is on the way so read on…

Beside the age cheating and the lack of education in our football system, we have also discovered that the more we interact with the youth around the globe, the better and the more players our country could possess. Examples are many but here are few cases we all may be familiar with, Adambathia Larsen Kwarasey, Mario Balotelli, Kevin Prince Boateng, Jerome Boateng, Danny Welbeck, and now, young Kevin Osei. Kevin Osei is a Former France U17 captain, who three weeks ago justified his inclusion in Ghana and will soon join the Black Satellites squad in the up coming Africa Youth Championship to be held in Libya. For Adambathia, shortly Adam, Kwarasey’s process is now into its advanced phase which good news would be announced very soon.

Another scenario is Ghana could have had both Kevin Prince Boateng and his brother, Jerome’ Boateng, in its national squad during the recent 2010 WC tournament. Unfortunately for Mother Ghana, in Jerome’s case, it was too little too late to convince him. Again another example is the case of Super Mario. If the nation could have extended a little love to Mario Balotelli during his younger ages through a certain program, Mother Ghana would have had a great asset. All could be referred to as, “Had I know is always a little too late.”

Danny Welbeck’s case is still in limbo. Whether he will play for us or not none of us may know until he makes his final decision. If a youth monitoring program was in effect during Danny’s twelfth or thirteenth birthday, he would have been ours from the beginning. Even if GFA feels reluctant to approach, the program could have invited him when he was that young to justify his inclusion. Now, it looks as if the country may loose the service of another talented Ghanaian born.

We may be late in acquiring signatures of some important players in the past like Desailly Mercel, David Odonkor, etc. we may not be late on the new comers. As they say, “by directly ignoring a problem, it indirectly promotes itself”. In other words, the country’s future would be heavily affected by our today’s decisions if nothing is implemented and executed to right the wrong.

With these three obstacles in mind, a Foreign Based Starlets (FBS) is being established. A global promotional company and one of our own websites, Topafric.com, are implementing strategic plans to keep the young and up-coming players in-check. This implementation, when executed as expected will keep the youth in school and also help them in reporting real ages and grades before eligible for contracts. Football is all we have as Ghanaians and it is about skills and stamina. Once a child gains those two qualities, education follows then discipline. This is the goal of FBS program.

There would be host of countries, Germany, Italy, France, England and US hosting tournaments to assess Ghanaian youth around the globe. These young ones would be monitored by the program. All the youngsters interested in this program would be given the opportunity to justify their inclusions in these various countries. Participants in the above mentioned countries will have the privilege to register, and yes, documents will be double checked. A contact number and an e-mail address would be given later to the parents of the candidates to send in the information of their children for proper registration.

Here is the juicy part. With a minimum of “C” average or 2.0 grade point average (GPA), a registration is available. A player below the required G.P.A or grade aggregate would not be accepted in the program. Anyone who is already in the program also would be seriously monitored, and if by any reason that player falls below the required GPA, he will immediately be taken off the program. This means the program will stop monitoring him until his grade picks up. The target age for this program is between 12 and 17.

Arrangements are in process to enable the best 50 players from each mentioned country to participate in a tournament in Ghana next year. The best 50 players selected out of the final competition would be mixed with the players in Ghana to justify their inclusion for the best 23 to be picked into the next years U17 National Youth Programs.

Here is the sensitive paragraph. This program is free since sponsors are being contacted to voluntarily help make it worthwhile. In a sense, as of now, no one is being paid to participate or to get involve. Therefore, when anyone comes to you, as a parent, and demand any amount for your child’s inclusion, please and I mean please, report him or her to the local police before those responsible for the program arrive. According to the sponsors, anyone who is, let me say, ACCIDENTALLY CAUGHT in a process of collecting ANY FORM OF BRIBE in aiding a candidate into the program, will be dealt with according to the law of which that person abides by. This is not a joke, therefore, don’t fool around. Help us make it a success for the benefit of our country.

Mother Ghana may loose young players in oversees to the other countries if monitoring and recruiting are not put in effect. With the above plan, changes could be observed because the children residing in oversees do not have the privilege to change any of their documents including their birth certificates. Since they would be aware that their grades will be monitored, they will have no room to relax when it comes to education, unless a child who doesn’t want to play for any of the country’s National Teams. With this plan in place, discipline will be installed in them from the initial part of the program in order to make things easier for their future managers. By having these Ghanaian youth around the globe in our possessions, including the ones at home, Ghana should be ready to take the world by storm in the World Cup events to come.
Here are the requirements needed to be accepted in the FBS program, and the contact e-mail address is below.
1. Your full name (First, middle and last)
2. Address
3. Educational background
4. Real age (Very Important)
5. Parents names and origin
6. Teams played for so far
7. Position/s on the field
8. Contacts (Phone numbers)
9. Agents and their contacts (If have one)
10. Country of origin (passport)
11. E-mail address
“In all things, get understanding, get wisdom”
Ransford Frempong Peeprah
(Rnsfdpeprah@yahoo.com)