By Tilda Acorlor
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has begun its nationwide Talent Identification Programme (TIP) in the Volta Region, aimed at unearthing and developing the next generation of football stars to form the base of the various youth national teams.
The initiative, which began in Ho on April 1, is designed to spot talents, train Physical Education (PE) teachers and community coaches on fundamental criteria of football, advance ways of scouting and youth development techniques.
More than 20 community coaches and over 200 pupils from twenty-two schools showed up for the programme in the Ho.
The Programme in the Region is in two folds, with the first expected to last for three days in Ho while the second follows in Sogakofe from April 4 to 6, extending the reach of the scheme across the region.
Participants are expected to learn modern coaching methodologies to identify and nurture young talents at the grassroots level as young talent are been spotted The training is being led by experts from the GFA Technical Directorate with support from the Volta Regional Football Association (VRFA) scouts and coaches.
The GFA plans to expand the TIP across all ten football regions in Ghana with the aim to identify and develop the best-talented youth players (male and female) in the country.
Director of the Talent Identification Program Papa, Nii Lartey, says the turnout has been positive, he is optimistic of a similar results in the rest of the regions.
He mentioned, the region has great potential that can be nurtured and developed.
Mr. Lartey expects the trained coaches to re-train others and replicate the program in the various districts and communities throughout the region.
“The GFA Talent Identification Program is meant to find talents, train, and develop the talents for the various youth national teams, and to teach the coaches here in the Volta Region modern scouting methodologies.” Mr. Lartey said.
“So far the programme has been positive, the participants (coaches) have been passionate, and dedicated.”
“The turnout has been encouraging and I await a bigger turnout tomorrow and subsequent days in Sogakofe.” He said.
“Trained coaches are been trained to retrain, and replicate the program in other districts of the region.” He added.
The TIP programme is a component of the FIFA Talent Development Scheme with the aim of giving every talent a chance to be identified and developed.
The Central Region will be the next region to benefit from the TIP initiative.
