GFA launches National Under 15 League, kicks off this weekend
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has launched the National Under-15 League at its headquarters in Accra. The novelty league will kick off this on October 2 across the country.
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Launching the competition, GFA Vice President George Afriyie reiterated the GFA's commitment to grass root development of football in Ghana.
"Juvenile football is the foundation of football and the GFA is committed to building a solid foundation for football in the country, a vision which was promised by the GFA President following his re-election," George Afriyie said.
COMPOSITION AND FORMAT
The competition will be made up of sixteen (16) teams, comprising of thirteen (13) regional teams selected from colts clubs in the regions, as well as three academies.
Greater and Ashanti Regions will however, be represented by two teams each due to the number of colts clubs in the country.
The teams will be grouped into two zones; northern and southern zones, with each zone having eight teams.
The teams will play in a league system with the winner of the northern zone playing runner up of the southern; and vice versa in what will be a knockout, semi final stage of the competition.
Winners of the semi finals will progress to the finals to determine who wins the competition.
The Under-15 League, will also be officiated by young referees who will use the platform as a learning process to develop their refereeing potentials.
Ahead of the commencement of the league, all the respective coaches and goalkeepers trainers of the participating teams have been taken through a FIFA-supported coaching course to sharpen their knowledge on the game.
Chairman of the National Juvenile Committee of the GFA, Kweku Eyiah revealed that to ensure the right ages are used for the competition, the GFA has undertaken a screening exercise which kicked out unqualified players from the competition.
FIFA/GFA SUPPORT
Fifa has supported this program by providing equipment which will be distributed to the participating teams. The GFA has also supported by adding additional footballs and also bearing the cost of accommodation and other expenses.
Each participating team will receive twenty sets of jerseys each, 20 pairs of football boots, footballs, goalkeepers gloves, and shin guards.
Selected players from the National Under 15 Championship will form the nucleus of the next national under 17 team, the Black Starlets.