[ 2014-02-10 ]

Nyantakyi: Football and education, a necessity for players
Ghana Football Association President Kwesi
Nyantakyi is happy with Nestle Ghana's support for
juvenile football which is in tandem with that of
the sport body.

The beverage producers on Friday launched the
Under-13 Milo National Championship in Accra, a
competition targeted at unearthing talents across
the country, especially from primary schools in
the rural areas.

Faced with the age-long issue of players
abandoning any form of academic work for football,
the GFA two years ago introduced a strategic
educational reform that required all juvenile
footballers in the country to take up education
before being registered to play.

With many players turning out to be world stars
after being spotted during such tournaments,
Nyantakyi insists developing the talents of
children through education is the right way to go
at the grassroots level.

“Its important Ghana qualifies to every World
Cup in the future but to sustain it we need to
take youth football serious and we congratulate
Nestle for their support for youth development,”
the GFA President said.

“All the girls in the U-17 and 20 and some from
the Black Queens were picked from this tournament
and that shows how important the competition
is.”

The GFA President added that the concept of
selecting players from the school system will not
change following the success of their strategic
educational reform.

“We have reached a stage where our young boys
and girls can't play football without going
through the school system,” Nyantakyi said.

“Through the Milo Under-13 tournament, Ghana can
boost of Sulley Muntari, Majeed Waris, Laryea
Kingson and a host of others.”

According to Nyantakyi, the GFA would continue to
offer unflinching support to the Milo Under-13
tournament to ensure the successful discovery of
the myriad talents particularly in the rural
areas.

This year’s championship would commence on 19th
to 21st February, 2014 in the Ashanti region on
the Paa Joe Park. The African Champions also comes
off in April in Kenya.

Source - Ghana FA

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