Accra, April 29, GNA – The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has launched a juvenile football competition with the aim of creating the platform for grooming young and talented footballers in the country.
Mr. Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku, the President of the GFA at the launch in Accra said juvenile football would be successful if stakeholders pay attention to young footballers and render them their unflinching support.
“The aim of this competition is to focus on youth football or youth development because it is a stage that young boys and girls learn how to be skillful, discipline, and engage in other activities for their community and most importantly the national teams,” he said.
He said it was through juvenile football that discovered notable players including Abedi Pele, Laryea Kingston, and Stephen Appiah who represented the Black Stars and lifted the flag of Ghana high at the international level.
He said “this should tell you how long our people have to wait, how long our kids in this country have been waiting, but now the wait is over”.
Mr. Okraku explained that the National Juvenile Committee (NJC) had done a lot of work in reconstituting the juvenile football competition which included, new regulations, up-grading of kid centres to ensure that football was played on good pitches across the country.
The GFA President further noted that the juvenile league would be managed by the District Football Association, and that the top goal scorers, best players among others at the district level would be awarded trophies and prizes.
Mr. Okraku said, the top goal scorer of each region would receive GH₵500.00 worth of shopping materials from Melcom whilst the best players from each region would be given a mobile phone.
He urged corporate entities and individuals to come on board to support Juvenile football in Ghana to uplift Ghana’s football to a greater height.
GNA