Founder and coach of Division One female football club, Sumbrungu Ladies Football Club, has told a1radioonline.com that if clubs at the lower divisions get periodic supports from government, local assemblies, and businesses, many talents at the grassroots would be saved from going waste.
According to him, there are many raw talents in the rural communities that need grooming to become stars for the country, but then, many of them are usually left to go waste, because the clubs do not have the financial muscles to support them through their development.
Apart from being the coach, Iddirisu Danaa Mubarik is the sole financier of the Sumbrungu Ladies Football Club, which he said is a difficult task and discouraging.
“This work is a calling; when you enter and you see how your contribution is impacting positively in the lives of these players, you just can’t stop. Many of these girls are role models; they have become very disciplined and very focused in life because of football. For many of them, their hope for a bright future is through football.
I have become their source of inspiration and motivation in life. When these little ones tell you this and you realize it is the truth, how can you abandon them? This is why you cannot add more, even if that player is good. You cannot carry the burden, so you watch the child roam around without training, then with time the talent goes waste.
Sumbrungu Ladies Football Club is among the three Division One female clubs in the Upper East Region which benefited from the FIFA COVID-19 support fund that came through the Ghana Football Association.
With the help of the FIFA COVID-19 support fund, Sumbrungu Ladies Football Club now has a befitting field, with standard goal posts and substitution benches.
“When the money came, I contracted a grader to work on our field. It’s not the club’s property, but since we have an agreement with the school and community, we had to put it into good shape. Now the field is leveled, no longer dangerous to the players. We also have a substitution area with benches for both home and away teams. The money wasn’t much but it has moved the club from one level to another.”
Coach Mubarik told a1radioonline.com that, he wishes to brand the club to make it attractive so that with time people will start traveling to Sumbrungu on weekends just to watch the club play and also take advantage of business opportunities in Sumbrungu.
Sumbrungu Ladies Football Club is among the best performing clubs in the Upper East Region. On Saturday, January 16, the club played at home. The result was Sumburungu Ladies 4-1 Zuarungu Terror Ladies.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Ghana
