Course on football development opens at Wa

Wa, Nov. 29, GNA - About one hundred participants from the various Districts of the Upper West Region on Wednesday began a six-day course on technical aspects of football as part of the four-year Business and Development plan of the Ghana Football Association (GFA).

The participants were taken through basic football administration, coaching, refereeing of matches and sports medicine. It is the seventh to be organized by the GFA.

Outlining some aspects of the plan at the opening ceremony, Mr George Dasoberi, the National Coordinator of the four-year programme, said the country has been divided into three sectors comprising the Southern, Middle and Northern sectors.

Each of these sectors would be headed by a director who would supervise the unearthing of talents for the Under 12, Under 15 and Under 17 for boys and Under 14, Under 16 and Under 19 for girls.

Mr Dasoberi said five outstanding players in each of the age category would be selected from each of the ten regions and the Tema Municipality next year to be under the guidance of seasoned coaches for two weeks and schools of excellence established for them.

Mr Ambrose Dery, Upper West Regional Minister, who opened the course said the exploits of the Ghana Black Stars at the recent World Cup tournament in Germany showed that soccer could be used to form the basis for the national unity and its development should therefore be encouraged throughout the country at all levels.

He regretted that practical lessons on physical education were no longer given the desired attention in schools' as was the case and called for a reversal of that situation to ensure a healthy development of the children.

Mr Dery urged the GFA to give equal treatment to boys and girls and make sure that the negative customary attitudes facing girls were not carried into sports.

Mr Malik Jabir, Director for the Northern Sector, said the current crop of Ghanaian players lacked the ability to score goals because they do not read books about the goal scoring prowess of great footballers such as Gerd Muller of German.

He said although a coach could teach a player the technique of scoring goals, the player needed to work extra hard to develop that talent.

Mr Jabir recounted his experience in his early days when as a player of Kumasi Asante Kotoko and the Black Stars, he used to drive to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to practise on his own the art of shooting at goal from all angles and that propelled him to be a potent striker during his playing days. "A striker should always follow the ball in the goal area of opponents but must be mindful that he will get severe knocks in that area", he pointed out. 29 Nov. 06