Wessam Atrib with the team ahead of a game
Ghana’s status as a football ‘crazy’ country is without question, but over the last few decades, the country has failed to win any major laurels at the senior level, prompting many to question the quality of talents coming through the ranks these days.
Ghana abounds in football talents who can be spotted in every nook and cranny of the country, but what has been lacking, it appears, is the proper identification, nurturing and development of these talents whose raw talents can be polished to become as good as the Abedi Pele’s and Osei Kofi’s and Michael Essien’s .
These days there is a refreshing trend with the upsurge in the number of football academies that have sprung up to provide solutions to the problems of talent development in the country.
Among such football academies, is Dzorwulu-based Astros Football Academy, owned and managed by a Ghanaian-born Lebanese known as Wesam Atrib.
Wessam Moussallem is a football fanatic who is not allowing the financial challenges that come with handling over 150 footballers to discourage her from achieving her goals of churning out Ghana’s version of Messi, Ronaldo and other fantastic footballers.
In a very detailed interview, the business magnate who preferred to be called Ekua revealed to us the reason behind the establishment of the academy and how she has single-handedly sustained it since its establishment in 2012.
A brief history of History of Astros Football Academy
Wessam provided a brief background of her academy, revealing the reason that caused her to set up the talent developing hub.
“Astros Football Club was established six years ago to serve as a platform for some of the numerous talents in the country to have access to world class equipment, pitches and technical men to aid their development. I decided to this because I realized there are so many talented footballers in the country, who, with a little push will take the world by storm. We started with 60 kids but now we have over 150 kids who have registered with us. Day-in-day-out we get calls from other people who want to join us but for now we are focused on developing the 150 we have then we will take the next step. We do not have our own hostels but by the end of this year, we would have built first-class hostel facilities for our kids”.
Some of the activities that the Academy has embarked on
The Academy aside organizing its yearly tournaments has also participated in number of competitions and have chalked considerable success in those competitions.
“We have done seven tournaments and every tournament we have more than 30 academies involved. These tournaments are to give our kids competition, exposure and raise their confidence. I’m glad to say that we have won most of the tournament we participated in. Our main sponsor is Lord of the Wings, a restaurant in Cantonments, Accra which has been of help to us. We are hoping to embark on more projects in the coming weeks.
Azmi Atrib a goalkeeper with the Academy has received 11 awards for his impressive goalkeeping exploits
On how much she spends on the Academy
She disclosed that the Academy operates on a yearly budget of GHC100k with a chunk of the amount coming from her with little help from friends.
“Our yearly budget is GHC100, 000 but last year we had some events that shot up our budget. I provide most of the money with little or no support from no one but I’m not deterred because I believe in the kids and very soon they will become world class players. Running this academy is capital intensive because we have to pay the coaches and the pitch we use but I believe thing will get well soon. We organized a fundraising dinner last year but we did not get the expected amount. Nonetheless, I’m optimistic about this year. We have lots of events coming up so we are hopeful that things will go well”.
What motivates her
‘Ekua’s motivation stems from her passion and love for the game and the Ghanaian youth.
‘I’m a Lebanese born in Ghana so I see myself as a Ghanaian. I hate to see the Ghanaian youth suffer so if I have the means to help then I have to do it. I’m using football to show my love for the Ghanaian youth and I believe we owe Ghana a responsibility to help the vulnerable. If I have to sacrifice my life for this academy, I would do that because I love the players and Ghanaians. When i have something, its not for me and my family but for the academy. At Astros, there’s no me, there no you, there is us cos we are all united”.
Plans for the year
Wessam is anticipating a more successful 2018 with the expectation that a few of her players will secure deals outside, hostel facilities will be built and engage in more tournaments.
“We are coming out big this year so people should watch out. We have more than 5 five players going out for trials. We are going to participate in more tournaments to market our players. We will also organize our own competition and bring down some of the known scouts in football to identify some of the hugely talented guys we have. We will have scouts from America, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ghana here”.
Message to the Government
She holds the view that Ghana has loads of talents but what is lacking is infrastructure and a plan for the development of these talents.
“I would like to tell the government to build more pitches and come out with a comprehensive plan for these footballers because Ghana has a lot of talents. Whenever I go out and see some of these footballers, I get fascinated by the quality of talent we have. The government must support these talents before they begin to engage in social vices
