The world Under-17 championship kicked off in Finland Wednesday without Ghana's representatives, the Black Starlets. The Starlets, once the team to beat at the exciting junior world cup failed to finish among the sixteen teams which will be competing in Finland.
Nigeria, Cameroon and Sierra Leone are the flag bearers for the continent at the tournament.
The three nations gained qualification to the championship by virtue of being the three finalists at the African under-17 tournament in Botswana. This is the second time in a row that the Black Starlets are missing out in the tournament.
The young Harambee Stars of Kenya blighted Ghana's campaign. The Starlets last played in the competition in New Zealand 1999 where they won bronze. Since then it has been a spell of dismal showings by the national under-17 team.
Many reasons have been adduced for the sudden flop of the Starlets lately. While some believe that the practice of age cheating is having a telling effect on us, others also contend that the attempt to rectify the wrongs of the past is wreaking the disastrous results.
To those who posit that our "wicked" past is catching up with us, it is better to use the approved age and crash out of contention than to win laurels by deceit.
This school of thought believes that even if the dividends from the persistent quest to compete fairly at the junior level does not mature in the immediate future, its eventual benefits will be overwhelming.
Those on the other side of the argument however, insist that Ghana should have concentrated efforts on consolidating their strangle hold on the reins of this particular competition rather than attempting to look back into the past.
They argue that since the youth competition has proved over the years to be Ghana's medal haven, there's the need to employ all means, fair and foul, to ensure that the Starlets glitter always.
There is no denying the fact that both groups are right in their assertions to an extent. In pursuance of the new objective of building a young team, which will graduate into the senior national team, Ghana paraded a relatively youthful Starlets team in 2000 constituted by players of the approved age and yet failed to qualify for the African Cup and consequently, the 2001world championship.
The case was not different in 2002 when coach Silas Tetteh presided over another disastrous campaign. And against the backdrop that Ghana enjoyed a medal harvest and produced a crop of exciting and skillful players from the under-17 championships in the1990's, one cannot really begrudge proponents of the argument that the nation glosses over the age of the players in its bid to emerge tops at this level.
The debate on overaged players has raged on for years and needs an all encompassing approach to find a solution, especially as the Daniel Addos, Odartey Lampteys and Sebastian Barnes continue to sink into oblivion shortly after dazing the world with their scintillating touches. This is because there is more to the problem than meets the eye.
The most practicable approach is to start grooming our players from a very tender age through the educational institutions. That however requires a high level of political will, financial commitment and patience.
The other option which is a total overhaul of the national psyche, demands the concerted effort of all Ghanaians who wish to see the nation's passion buoyant again.
The whole nation must resolve to eschew the practice of using overaged players and to uphold honesty, notwithstanding the consequences, if we intend to see the Starlets lighting up the skies at the next world under-17 championship.
