The GFLP team travels to remote villages looking for up and coming talent to join the Gangdu SC in Tampe-Kukuo. One of the biggest struggles we have with sending the players is approval from the parents. But not in the way you are thinking. See, this is a different culture, and children are viewed in a different light. In most tribes in the Northern Region, children are viewed as a piece of property. A son is manual laborer and will work in the farm as soon as he can walk. The daughter's job is to cook and clean. So when we approach the father seeking permission to send his child to Tamale, we have to offer an incentive that will counter the loss of their labor when they leave.

​

These are remote villages with limited resources. Many have settled here for generations and have not advanced in hundreds of years. There is no infrastructure being offered other than a "free" education which the government gives. Most areas have an elementary and middle school to offer, if the teachers show, but if they want a proper education or to attend senior high, they have to leave the small villages and travel far. Most families cannot afford to send their children, so the cycle of poverty continues. An education. An opportunity for the children to excel, and in turn, bring back knowledge and wealth to the village. That's the incentive we give the fathers. 

​

Soccer may be the dream that brings them together, but it is our mission to look further down the road and equip them with tools to thrive when their soccer careers are over. An education is more than just a degree from a school, we wanted to offer life skills that could be used to change not only their lives, but their loved ones. So we opened a beverage store to teach the players how to manage and sell to an ever changing market. We are able to teach budgeting, planning, marketing, and sales. Players are able to spend their days training in the business world, then heading off for training on the soccer field in the evenings. 

​

We also recognized the need to offer the young women in the community, and on the teams, an opportunity to train. We opened a seamstress store next to the beverage store, where we have a licensed master seamstress training women for free. After there 3 years of sewing school, they are then sent off with a new sewing machine and tools necessary to launch their own careers.

 

Equipping for Success.