A high powered delegation of the Ghana Football Association, led by President Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku, and accompanied by the full national Under17 squad (Black Starlets), today paid a courtesy call on the KGL Foundation, Sponsors of the KGL U17 Inter Regional Football Championships.
Having benefited from a sponsorship relationship between the GFA and the KGL Foundation over a little more than three years, the leadership of the Association deemed it appropriate to visit KGL Foundation, in the company of the Black Starlets team, which has five products of the KGL Under17 Inter-regional Tournament as key members of the team, hence the visit.
The GFA delegation was welcomed by the Chief Executive Officer of the KGL Foundation, Elliott Dadey, who indicated how thrilled the KGL Foundation was to be hosting the GFA and the Black Starlets. He expressed the appreciation of the KGL Foundation for their relationship with the GFA and stated that they were happy to be making a contribution to the development of the youth of Ghana.
The KGL Foundation CEO noted that their relationship with the GFA was the first such endeavour embarked upon by the KGL Foundation in Ghana stressing that this had thrown the spotlight on the KGL Foundation. Ghana Football, Dadey said, "holds a really special place in the heart of the KGL Foundation".
On his part, the President of the Ghana Football Association expressed his profound appreciation to the KGL Foundation for their support for Colts Football development.
"At a time when most of the world was in lockdown mode in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, KGL Foundation showed immense courage by placing their faith in the Ghana Football Association through their sponsorship of the then novel KGL Under-17 National Championship, which saw Regional Champion U17 Colts clubs vying for the enviable crown of National Under17 Colts Champions."
"The tournament metamorphosed into the current format where the best Under17 Colts players in every region are selected to play in the KGL U17 Inter Regional Football Championships. It is important and pertinent to note that, in the current Black Starlets squad, five of the key players, including the Captain, Benjamin Tsivanyo, are products of the KGL U17 National Championships, and they are here with us today", the President of the GFA stated with obvious joy.
In his remarks, President Simeon-Okraku also took the opportunity to inform the Management of the KGL Foundation about the fact that the GFA now had twenty national teams to manage with most of them being the age category national teams. He asserted that the partnership with the KGL Foundation had a strong synergy with the formation of the new age category teams, since products from the KGL U17 Inter Regional Football Championships would be feeding several of the age category teams.
A notable highlight of the visit to KGL was the surprise appearance of Ghana's Golden Boy, the legendary Abdul Razak, a former National Football star who arrived at the premises of the KGL Foundation in the company of President Simeon-Okraku.
Captain of the Black Starlets, Benjamin Tsivanyo also shared some words of appreciation to KGL Foundation and took the opportunity to introduce the Black Starlets team to the Management and staff of the KGL Foundation.
As a token of appreciation for the support enjoyed by the GFA from the KGL Foundation, the GFA President presented an autographed Black Stars Jersey to the CEO of the KGL Foundation.
The five player products of the KGL National U17 Championships, namely BENJAMIN TSIVANYO, ABDULAI NORTEY, IZDEEN MUHAMMAD, NARBI JOSEPH and ABDUL BAAKI HARUNA, also presented an autographed KGL Jersey to Mr. Elliott Dadey.
Head Coach of the Black Starlets, together with the players and the entire Technical team took photographs with representatives of the KGL Foundation together with members of the GFA delegation, which included Chief of Staff Michael Osekre, Executive Council members Samuel Aboabire and Frederick Acheampong, Business Development Director Janice Odonkor, Director of Marketing Jamil Maraby and Head of Public Relations and Strategy Neil Armstrong-Mortagbe.
The partnership between the KGL Foundation and the Ghana Football Association has begun to yield fruits to the admiration of the KGL Foundation and the prospects look very bright for a continuation of the relationship for the foreseeable future.