DON'T LET CHILDREN ABANDON EDUCATION...Nana Agyeman Gyau (GRAPHIC SPORTS, PAGE 11)

Story: Samuel Duodu, Sunyani

A former player of the senior national team, the Black Stars, and now the Atimpimhene of Berekum Traditional Area in the Brong Ahafo Region, Nana Gyau Gyan (Agyeman Gyau), has urged parents to consider the education of their children first rather than forcing them to go into football.
He observed that some parents, in recent time, have been encouraging their children to go to soccer academies at the expense of their education because they saw football as the quickest way to get rich. To this, Nana Gyan adds, “it is not everybody that football can make rich or famous in the society and the world as a whole”.
Nana Gyau Gyan, who is also the President of the National Retired Footballers’ Association of Ghana (RENFAG), said this at the inauguration of the Berekum branch of the Women Supporters Union of Ghana (WOSUGHA) at Berekum last Sunday.
He stated that because of the money and fame associated with football these days, some parents did not even care about the education of their wards, but at the end of the day they might not derive the maximum benefits from the most popular game in the world.
Nana Gyau Gyan, therefore, entreated parents to consider sending their children to school so that they can develop their talent and interest in soccer side by side education.
He used the opportunity to advise members of WOSUGHA not to only concern themselves with supporting and cheering the national teams, but to also lead exemplary lives worthy of emulation by the youth in their various communities.
Nana Gyau Gyan also called on the leadership of the women’s supporters union to be transparent in their dealings and the handling of money to ensure its growth.
Madam Felicia Adoma, the Co-ordinator for WOSUGHA, for Brong-Ahafo and Ashanti regions for her part commended the female Under-17 national team, the Maidens, for defeating their Zambian counterparts and urged them not to be complacent, but go ahead to win all their matches.
She pledged the massive support of the union to the female Under-17 team and all other national teams.
Madam Adoma stated that women had been left behind when it came to the cheering of the national teams and therefore the union had come to create a platform for women, who formed the bulk of the country’s population, to provide massive support for the national teams in all their matches.
She added that the massive support provided by women during the CAN 2008 was so evident that when the going became tough for the Black Stars, it was women who went all out to cheer on the team from victory to victory in every match during the tournament.
The Berekum branch of WOSUGHA has Madam Elizabeth Yeboah as President, Madam Georgina Yeboah as her vice, Ernestina Frimpong, Organiser, Lydia Asamoah, Treasurer and Hagar Okai as Secretary.