Recently, both the Under-20 and Under-17 Women’s National Teams of Ghana had to temporarily halt their preparations for their respective World Cups because of a lack of funds, mainly for food, from the Ghana Football Association. This brief suspension of training only lasted about a week, from Friday, June 22nd, to Thursday, June 28th, due to a benefactor stepping forward and agreeing to donate the necessary funds for the two teams’ camps.
The monthly cost for the U-20 WNT’s training camp was specified as “Ghc 6000″(Ghanasoccernet.com) or about U.S. $3,100 (XE.com, an exchange rate website). The money for the youth training camps is apparently suppose to come from Ghana’s Ministry of Youth and Sports, but that funding has fallen through (Ghanasoccernet.com).
Ghan’s U-20 WNT, who are nicknamed the “Black Princesses,” along with Ghana’s U-17 WNT, or the “Black Maidens,” are currently both training at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence, near Accra, Ghana. The training facility is a FIFA Goal project (February 2011 press release announcing the project, Ghana FA).
Sadly, this is far from being an isolated problem. Kenya’s U-20 WNT faced a similar funding crisis earlier this year. Here’s a news segment on that incident from a Kenyan TV station (YouTube, April 2012).
The Princesses are in the same group as the United States U-20 WNT at the upcoming U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan. The two squads will meet in the first match of Group D. A roster for Ghana’s U-20 WNT camp is not readily available.
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TIMELINE:
Thursday, June 21st: The Ghana Football Association asks the three youth teams to “go home indefinitely.” Although, the U-17 Men’s National Team, who are preparing for a qualifier match in July, apparently had a back-up training location. (MTNFootball.com, via Ghanasoccernet.com)
Tuesday, June 26th: It was announced that Kingsley Owusu-Achiaw, the president of Bechem United, a Ghanaian soccer club, would donate the money necessary for the Black Princesses and Black Maidens to continue their training camps. (Ghanasoccernet.com; SuperSport.com) June 28th was set as the day that the camps would resume.
Thursday, June 28th: Ghana’s U-20 WNT and U-17 WNT resume their training camps. Players and technical staff were suppose to report by 11:00 am (GhanaFA.org).
Women's Soccer Express 