The President of the Ghana Football Association, Kurt Edwin Simeon-Okraku, has met the leadership of the Western Regional Football Association (WRFA) and discussed highly innovative policies targeted at football growth in the region.
The President engaged the Chairman and newly sworn-in Executive Council members of the WRFA at the BoyBoison Elite Hotel in Takoradi on Thursday, August 15, 2024.
While expressing his gratitude for the warm reception, he reiterated the GFA's focus on youth and women’s football while advancing matters relating to the general outlook of the game in the region.
"I want to thank Chairman Simon and his team for the wonderful reception. It's been a hectic last few weeks but I am glad that we're finally here. I am happy to see all of you and your demeanor clearly demonstrates a team ready and willing to work for football in this great region," President Simeon-Okraku said.
"I want to take this opportunity to congratulate all of you for leading your U17 team to win the 2024 KGL U17 Inter-Regional Championship which concluded last week at the beautiful Ghanaman Soccer Center of Excellence, Prampram.
"While you bask in the glory of your victory, permit me to remind you about the need to put a lot of focus on youth and women's football as we continue our quest to be competitive at all levels of our game. Youth development is going to be key on our agenda going forward."
President Simeon-Okraku charged the Western Regional Football Association to devise strategies to draw greater inflows given the imminent introduction of several new competitions annually to enhance the systematic growth of the players.
"I've been thinking about the best way not only to get people to be interested, but to get our people to do it. We want to introduce the Inter-District festival for U15 and U17 Boys and Girls. The national Elite U15 Girls that took place in Prampram has come to stay. And every year, an original team will have to be represented. You, therefore, need appropriately structured competitions to achieve that. The U17 boys is already established through KGL and the U17 Girls is also in the pipeline.
"Soon we're going to have Elite U-19 Boys and Elite U-19 Girls. So we are going to see more competitions; and that also means more resources being required by the RFA. That's why you need to find creative ways of looking for money. Because we're going to be clear on the KPIs: If you don't do ABC, you don't expect XYZ from the national level." he emphasized.
President Edwin Simeon-Okraku, who doubles as the Chairman of the National Juvenile Committee, reiterated his commitment to investing in Colts football.
"I stand here as Chairman of the National Juvenile Committee and my desire is to offer support for the development of Colts football, for both boys and girls.
"Just like I promised in Kumasi during Congress last year, about offering training opportunities for coaches at the Colts and Women level, we've started rolling out the strategy. Ashanti Region started and subsequent ones are being rolled out across the country. The first batch of 30 coaches have gone through the Licence D course. Just think about if we are to repeat this strategy for the next three years, what will happen to Colts football? Just think about it," he quipped.
He confirmed the first batch of professional referees from the Catch Them Young Refereeing policy will be announced during Congress in August 2024.
"Back in 2020, we introduced the Catch Them Young Refereeing strategy. We are in 2024 and some of them have matured. Some of them are good enough. We have tested a lot of these young referees in the Division One League, Women's Premier League, Women's Division One League, Second Division and Colts. The few that did really well will be part of our first group of professional referees. Congress will make public their identities. We want to guide them all the way to the top. And we would expect that all of you will support these kids on this particular journey."
President Simeon-Okraku, who is heavy on capacity building, urged the leadership to prioritise development of personnel.
"Capacity building is a major ingredient in our forward march. I will urge you to take a serious approach to enhancing the knowledge of your personnel. Capacity building is key."
"The quantum of investment made at the regional level underscores my commitment to uplift our game at all levels. And I think all of us should be happy about this and be supportive of the work we are doing."
"The Executive Council has directed that all Division Two matches across the Regions will start in October. No Second Division League must start later than October. So, whatever it takes for you to start your Second Division League in October, please ensure that you do it."
"We also found a solution to what came to me as a big problem: The registration of juvenile players. We have allowed the usage of the NHIS card as one of the requisite documents for registration of players, and I think that solves a lot of problems that you have had. So, you see, when it comes to juvenile football, I've been there."
He added: "I said this in Kumasi and I've always said this. I know sometime when I say it people become unhappy but that's leadership. We have problems with coaching in Ghana, we have problems with refereeing in Ghana. These are the two key areas that need to be fixed. And I want all of you to help in fixing it. We've started the journey of fixing it by investing heavily in these areas. We'll continue to invest until we get it right." he concluded.
The President attended the meeting with Executive Council member, Samuel Aboabire, GFA Regional Football Associations Coordinator, Daasebre Adu Asare and Head of Public Relations and Strategy, Neil Armstrong-Mortagbe.
GFA Communications