McDan Revives Juvenile Football
…As Colts Tournament Begins
The McDan Colts Football Tournament which has been launched to unearth young talents commenced last Saturday with an under-13 game between McDan Talent Academy and La All Stars at the La Salem Park in Accra.
The Colts tournament was launched by McDan Group of Companies in recognition of the fallen standards of football talents in the young ones.
The novelty league which was a product of a partnership between the Greater Accra Juvenile football clubs and the McDan Foundation seeks to revive grassroots football and bring the game to closer to communities.
Speaking to the press at the event, and telling memories of his days as a Colts player, the Chief Executive Officer of the McDan Group of Companies, Daniel Mckorley, talked about his delight with the return of grassroots football and assured the organizers of his continued support.
He said: “When I was young we used to play and after playing your mother will lash you but the following day you will come back and play again. I’m happy that this McDan initiative is catching fire and also happy with the support of most of the old players and coaches”.
“This is just the beginning of another exciting time in this country. Six years ago, we touched tennis and see what it has come to be. We are starting with this Colts league and we are going to be consistent. Check our past records and you will see that when we touch something, we are always consistent with it”.
Also, the General Manager of Wembley Sports Construction Company, Robert Tetteh Coleman said “We want say a very big thank you to Dr Daniel Mckorley, the chairman of McDan group because he is so much passionate about football aside the other Corporate Social Responsibilities that he’s been doing”. “We’ve seen him construct a state-of-the-art facility here in La and we are hoping that in the next one or two months it will be inaugurated. It’s an artificial turf constructed by Wembley Sports and this is done solely by himself as a private individual”.
Former Black Stars skipper, Stephen Appiah attributed Ghana’s poor performance in youth competitions to the collapse of Colts football.
Stephen Appiah extended his profound gratitude to the McDan Group for their support and called for a recognition of the people involved in Colts football.
“I’m too happy to be here because these are things we need. I’m standing here with my brother Laryea and both of us Colts products. For some years now we can even see when it comes to the under-20 and under-17 because Colts football is not there anymore. I would like to thank McDan for this laudable course and I’m really happy to see some faces here. It’s so sad that we don’t recognize the effort of these people but we stand here because of them. It’s so sad that in our time we had a chance to showcase our talent but these days the talent is there but how to discover them is a big problem,” Stephen Appiah said.
The tournament will take place in all the 10 Juvenile districts of Accra. Colts clubs from Tema will also compete in the tournament.
The semi-finals and grand final of the competition have been scheduled for the new McDan Sports Complex at La.
Saturday’s opening game was graced by football legends: George Alhassan, Augustine Arhinful, Stephen Appiah, Sam Johnson, Mohammed Polo, Yaw Preko, Armah Senegal, Awudu among others.
Others were the President of the Ghana Olympic Committee, Ben Nunoo Mensah and both the Accra and Tema Mayors.
They all Commended McDan Group of Companies for reviving Juvenile football and urged all MMDAs to replicate the tournament in their various communities.
