Glentoran Community Trust Ghana Football Academy

GLENTORAN FOOTBALL ACADEMY GHANA REPORT

Click here to see our child sponsors

The Board of the Glentoran Community Trust are delighted to be able to provide the following report on the progress of the Glentoran Football Academy Ghana based at Sunyani in the Brong Ahofo region of the West African Republic of Ghana. It has been an exciting year for the staff and the players. We were delighted to see the work of the Academy conveyed to a worldwide audience through the report televised by France24 during their extensive coverage of the African Cup of Nations which took place in Ghana at the end of January.

We are in a position to report the following:

Training began for the Academy in September with the twenty five children in residence at the project which is situated in the Baakoniaba district of Sunyani, being joined by two orphans from Nigeria whom the Academy had agreed to look after. Another 50 children attend the Academy on a non residential basis.

The first two days were used by the head coach for orientation at the Academy premises and to cover issues such as the insight of the Academy, its origins and the rules and regulations.

Training started officially on the third day of the new term. The technical team decided on a six week preparatory period before the commencement of competitive matches. The Academy timetable was drawn up as follows.

0530 to 0640 morning training (Mon to Fri)

0700 to 1500 school/vocational training (Mon to Fri)

1530 to 1730 afternoon training (Mon to Fri)

Saturdays after the six week preparatory period were set aside for Test matches.

A series of games were then undertaken once the technical staff were satisfied with the players technical, tactical and psychological condition.

The results of the recent games played by the Glentoran Football Academy are as follows.

Glentoran 2 Sunyani Senior High School 1

Glentoran 2 Twene Amofo Senior High School 0

Glentoran 0 Odumasimam Senior High School 1

Glentoran 1 Brong Ahofo Regional Colts 1

Glentoran 3 Celtic F.C 1

Glentoran also won the Special Farmers Day tournament organised for all the Colts teams in the Sunyani region.

Due to CAN 2008 the local youth league has been rescheduled.

In all Glentoran lost only one game. The Academy broke for Christmas with the good news that three children had been re-united with their families. As a result these children left the project to make way for three new residents.

Other games were organised to occupy those children who reside at the Academy during leisure time and with the help of the financial assistance received from Glentoran supporters through the Glentoran Community Trust Gateway Satellite Television was installed along with a Play Station 2 and games which was also purchased on behalf of the Academy by Trust members.

The provision of a satellite television has meant that the children have been able to watch games from the English Premiership, La Liga, Serie A, along with the Ghanaian Premiership and the South African and Nigerian leagues. This pleases the children greatly.

Coach Gade from Nigeria visited the Academy for a six day period to study training methods.

Financially the Academy continues to struggle with expenditure being more than incomings however the intervention of the Glentoran Community Trust with a £3,000 donation organised through the supporters has eased the burden as it remains one of the very few income streams for the Academy. This has also been supplemented by the provision of new playing kit and training equipment to the value of around £1,700. The Academy are indebted to Glentoran Football Club who continue to work alongside the Trust to assist with the furtherance of the Academy.

This association came to fruition with the Academy captain Acquah Afriyie spending a week training with Glentoran Football Club in Belfast at the tail end of last year. He was accompanied by Academy CEO Chris Antoh Forsythe.

The recommendations of the board of the Academy in Ghana are as follows:

The Technical team made up of a head coach, an assistant coach, goalkeeping coach and physiotherapist should be enhanced by one more member of staff to assist with training schedules.
There should be some investigation into providing allowances for the technical team for travelling expenses to and from the academy every day.
The Academy should explore the possibility of playing games outside of Sunyani.
There should be a periodical medical check up for all children in the Academy.
The possibility of filming Test matches to show the children after the game should be investigated.
Cooks at the Academy should research re-working the childrens food menus.
A lack of a proper training pitch is destroying the childrens boots and also affecting their performances. The technical team have recommended that the managerial staff look at organising the weeding, clearing and planting of grass as a matter of urgency on the land donated to the academy by the local tribal chiefs.
It is recommended that food supply be enhanced as sometimes it takes several hours for the cooks to source the required food stuff for the children on a daily basis.
The Technical team would like to investigate some way of connecting the coaching staff in Belfast with the coaching staff in Sunyani with a view to sharing coaching techniques and methods.
As a matter of urgency the Technical team recommend that the children are provided with two sets of boots for training and match purposes.

The Glentoran Football Academy Ghana would like to thank the supporters of Glentoran Football Club, the Glentoran Community Trust and Glentoran Football Club for their continued tremendous support and interest in the work of the Academy. This has been a really successful term for the Academy made possible only with the assistance of everyone back in Belfast.

Le Jeu Avant Tout.

The Glentoran Community Trust board write ...

The Academy in Ghana has made significant progress in the last seven months. At present they are in receipt of an invitation to play in this season’s Foyle Cup. As you will appreciate bringing one of the teams from Sunyani will require a huge undertaking and considerable financial resources. No firm commitment has been made as yet. As the Trust we are more than happy to co-ordinate any effort to bring the children along with our Belfast based squads to play in the tournament. Some of us are also seriously contemplating travelling out at our own expense to Sunyani to visit the Academy and to look at methods of how we can secure the future of the project. Already we have a volunteer to act as a travel secretary in this regard from within the Trust. If any of these projects appeal to you as supporters or players then get in touch with us at www.gctni.com or contact any of the board members at forthcoming fixtures.

Due to the phenomenal assistance given by the club and the supporters to the Academy last year the GCT will look to enhance the Africa Calling project for next season. Demand to sponsor the children outstripped supply and we were inundated with offers of assistance. Details of how you can help will appear on the GCT website www.gctni.com and with the backing of the Glentoran Supporters Committee 1923 in the first issues of next season’s Glentoran Gazette.

Thank you all very much indeed.

The Board of the Glentoran Community Trust

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you feel you can help this project in any way please do not hesitate to contact us at www.gctni.com

You can see the work of Christopher and learn more of the story of the Glentoran Football Academy Ghana HERE, or by by visiting www.glentoran.org

Well Done and Thank You All.

Le Jeu Avant Tout

GCT

© Glentoran Community Trust 2006