Veteran Ghanaian coach J.E.Sarpong has lauded President Akufo Addo for his ”Free Senior High School policy stating it’s a good avenue for Ghana sports to spot young talents”.
Sarpong speaking in an interview with UTV urged the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to take the initiative seriously by using it to scout for naturally endowed athletes,through the Ghana Inter-schools Milo games.
Emphasizing if managed properly can help in getting athletes to feature in country’s Junior ranks(U15,U17, U20 and U23),through which the nation can stand to gain the next generation of sports heroes like Stephen Appiah, Adwoa Bayo, Mohammed Gago, Abedi Ayew Pele, Asamoah Gyan and Rev.Osei Kofi.
Coach Sarpong revealed saying “a committee with an in-depth knowledge in sports should be set to be in charge for the scouting, as talents are been wasted due to the fact that many coast team managers and coaches are fed-up with the job because of lack of funds and support,”.
Coach for the National U17 (The Starlets) team Paa Kwasi Fabian, in his recent focus towards the said Milo games helped him in assembling a formidable team which made the nation proud in the recently ended U-17 African Cup of Nations held in Gabon by placing 2nd, bringing to the limelight young talents like Emmanuel Toku, a product of ‘OKESS’ and Rashid Alhassan also a former student of Ejisu Senior Technical School and host of others, making it big for nation Ghana and U-17 team.
The Starlets have currently pitched camp in Dubai for their training tour in preparation towards the U17 World Cup to be held in India October this year.
The experienced gaffer has been in charge of Ghana premier league giants like Asante Kotoko, Accra Hearts of Oaks, Ashgold and Liberty Professionals, where he gave Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan and all-time top goalscorer (with 51 goals), then a youngster the chance to explore, haven’t coached him at the secondary school as a Physical Education (PE) tutor at Accra Academy.
Adding up he said it would be very difficult for athletes to forge their ages if they adhere to the initiative, as athletes school documents would do all the explanations and will save the nation from yet another disgrace as the national U-17 team was once caught and banned by the MRI machine for forging of players age.
By: Eric Annan
