Many coaches have laid claims to nurturing various talents in one way or the other during the formative years of players. But impacting the right training modules into such players remains a matter of concern for the Ghana Football Association.
Education and Development officer of the Ghana Football Association, Francis Oti Akenteng has called for a well structured approach in appointing coaches for such young talents to aid their development.
The veteran Ghanaian coach says many great talents have fallen off the mark because they were given the wrong start in their careers.
“I must be frank. The foundation still has a problem. And no one can run away from that fact though we are making progress,” he told www.ghanafa.org in an exclusive interview.
“Players are given different insights into the game before reaching the top. At the very early stages, it’s wrong to talk about tactics.
“But you go round the parks and find coaches trying all sort of practices which tend to hamper a players development in the long run.
“I don’t mean to discredit the efforts of such people. But it is necessary for the good of the game and Ghana to teach the players the right things.
“You would have to try and improve their ball skills, technique, speed and their cardiovascular level at an early age.”
Despite his concerns, some persons with no coaching qualifications have succeeded in bringing up some great players for the nation. But Oti Akenteng still chooses to stick to his guns insisting that the basics are not right.
“Practice does not make perfect but right practice is the key,” he says.
“It certainly affects the players in the long run. There are a limited number of coaches and the issue of specialization is also a factor. There are also other areas like sports science which we are lacking.
“We would be better off with good coaches handling this players from the very lower leagues.
“It’s a matter of concern when a player in the premier league struggles with his passing even during training sessions.
“If we don’t teach them right from the start, what can we possibly do when they are above 22,” he opined.
“That is why, it’s so important that we correct all the ills from the bottom.”
Getting the right education across has started with the FA’s development programmes which have trained over 300 potential coaches.
The numbers makes Oti Akenteng happy and he says, clubs in the country need to embrace the development programme and work in union with the FA in that area.
“The FA has started this programme which is contained in the development plan for football in the country. And it’s has been really good.
“Apprentice coaches were led through various coaching modules and they are not just left to their fate but we have a system of monitoring their development and works.
“We need a structure where there would be able to do the classification of coaches for the various leagues. We all have to work towards achieving it.
“It would mean a coach with maybe ‘License C’ when classified might be involved in coaching the third division ranks. So, based on one's progression, we can determine his level and which league he can be best placed.
“I think football would be improved greatly if we develop quality coaches,” he summed up.