Former Black Stars Coach, James Kwasi Appiah has appealed to government to invest in building more quality pitches for the football hub of the country in the Brong Ahafo Region.

He said the lack of good pitches to learn the basics of the game is a problem in the region.
And he believes a change in the situation would help unearth more talent for the growth of football in the region and Ghana.

Kwasi Appiah, a native of the region, made the appeal on the sidelines of the 5th annual independence football gala at Abesim in the Sunyani East Municipality, where he was the special guest of honour.

The Brong Ahafo Region has produced many great football talents such as Kwasi Appiah, Kwasi Owusu, Daniel Owusu, Agyemang Gyewu, George Arthur, among other retired and active players. But the region, like other sporting disciplines, lacks the standard facilities to develop and grow talents.

“I believe we should have a lot of artificial pitches which would encourage kids on how to pass and dribble because the pitch being used for the gala has no grass, and it makes it difficult to exhibit such basic skills”, he lamented.

“We urge government to look at Brong Ahafo as well and construct at least one astroturf in each district to help develop the many talents around”, he appealed.

The former Black stars captain, who was honoured with a citation, also advised parents to encourage their kids not to only concentrate on sports, especially football.

”Get involved in any sporting activity such as football. But you should never concentrate on only football. You should combine that with your education. Be serious with your education. Because anything, such as injury, can happen along the line, and you may have to divert to any field of education that you are doing well”, Kwasi Appiah said.

Organiser of the annual Independence gala, Michael Opoku Boateng which is in its 5th year, said this year’s competition was inspired by the alleged gruesome murder of 3 persons, with body parts kept in a fridge, which has damaged the good image of the Abesim community.

He said the suspect, 28-year-old Richard Appiah, facing trial in Accra, was a key player of the winning team in the 2021 edition of the gala.

He explained that ”Because of the unfortunate incident, when you tell friends you are from Abesim, all manner of remarks is made. We want to redeem the good name of Abesim, and that is why the gala is dubbed, "Abesim not for crime”.

Mr Opoku Boateng also said aside from using football to achieve their aim, they are also embarking on other measures, including visiting schools in the community to educate students on behaviours that could help win back the good image and would need the support of all.

Abesim Traditional council, Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Alfred Tuah Yeboah, opinion leaders, city authorities, and political party members, who graced the competition, took turns advising the youth.

Abesim Extension won the ultimate after beating Abesim youth by a goal to nil in the final game of the four-team gala. The other teams were Abesim Komkom and Abesim Ohene Gyan.

Kwasi Appiah and Tuah Yeboah joined the other dignitaries to present the medals and a trophy to the winners.

The winning team produced the best coach, Christian Ameyaw, best goalkeeper, Kwasi Annan, and the overall best player, Richard Amoah, and runner-up with the best-behaved team.