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 tiGO-
Kotoko embark on community project
By: David Kyei, Asante Mampong
00:10GMT, 19-01-2010
The desire by corporate sponsors, tiGO, to collaborate with
Kotoko to break new grounds in club sponsorship was shot to a
higher level last Saturday when a group of selected players
travelled to Asante Mampong on a mission.
The mission was to so-to-speak give back to society what the
players have had the chance of having by imparting their
football skills unto the younger generation.
Dubbed “tiGO- Kotoko Soccer Clinic”, the players were taken to
the St. Monica Schools’ park where a final group of twenty-five
boys and three girls were waiting on them.
The lucky twenty-eight had been selected from the screening of
over three thousand kids from the Mampong and her surrounding
townships.
The main purpose of the clinic was to give them the opportunity
to have a brush with their Kotoko icons, and also have a feel of
first class coaching from the 2008 National Best Coach, Paa
Kwesi Fabin with physicals trainer Awudu Nuhu assisting.
Though tiGO had made enough publicity in the surrounding towns
to invite the people to witness the rare opportunity of sharing
in the event, the arrival of Kotoko’s tiGO branded Mercedes Benz
bus was the one that did the real thing as the people rushed to
first catch a glimpse of the Kotoko players and also witness the
event.
The presence of the Kotoko players, namely Soulama Abdoulaye,
Daniel Nii Adjei, Francis Akwaffo, Alex Asamoah, Isaac Owusu,
Osei kwame jnr and Stephen Oduro and management members, Ben Nti
and Alhaji Ali Maradona really set the place agog and even
before the program started, fans had started taking photos with
them.
With short speeches by Nana Ampratwum, the Brands manager of
tiGO, and Ben Nti, the Operations director of Kotoko, the event
was started with Alhaji Awudu Nuhu taking them through series of
warm-up exercises.
Paa Kwesi took the up-field talents through various ball
techniques whilst Soulama imparted his skills onto the
goalkeepers.
After two and half hours of various exercises and drills, the
young players attested to the fact that indeed football was a
difficult profession that they really needed to work hard to be
able to achieve their aims of making it big.
Though the program was not a scouting exercise, Paa Kwesi hinted
has hinted that there were three boys who abounded so much in
talents that he had recommended to tiGO to take a special
interest in them.
Later in an interview, Nana Ampratwum expressed his elation at
the success of the event and explained that Mampong event was
the first many socially driven events that they were going to
have with Kotoko.
“Am sure that even if none of the players are able to make it to
the top flight of football, they will one day sit back with
contentment and reminisce about how great it was for them to
have the chance to train and play with Kotoko players,” he said.
The next edition of the tiGO-Kotoko Soccer Clinic is scheduled
to take place at Konongo at a yet to be confirmed date.
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