Betway Talent Search trialists face nervous wait

The fate of thousands of aspiring professional footballers hangs in the balance following the conclusion of the regional trials of the second edition of the Betway Talent Search (BTS) last Saturday at the University of Ghana Stadium in Accra.

According to the Betway’s Country Manager, Kwabena Oppong-Nkrumah about 22 players shall be selected to be camped ahead of the grand finale scheduled for later this month which will decide which of the players will receive professional contracts with four Ghana Premier League clubs.

He said the footballers selected from the trials in Accra, would join other participants selected from Cape Coast for the Southern Trials on Monday and later combine with those in the north for the northern trials over the weekend.

Mr Oppong-Nkrumah explained that only 25 players drafted from the national trials on September 8 will be camped for the final selection on September 14.

“Looking forward to wrapping it up nicely and having at least eight players getting contracts to play with four clubs in the Ghana premier league aside the ones that would have teams elsewhere and then begin the ground works for the third and fought editions”, he stated.

The process he said has been very successful and the coaches have admitted that it has been difficult selecting the players as there are talents at every region.

Assistant coach of the Black Stars, Maxwell Konadu praised sports betting outfit, Betway for their ongoing Talent Search initiative which he said will help discover talents for the various national teams.

Coach Konadu on the sidelines of the Accra edition said Ghana has great football talents and such programmes would ensure that talents were brought to the limelight.

Konadu who doubles as a scout for the event said: “We have been to Tamale, then Sunyani to Kumasi before heading to Cape coast and now in Accra and the talents all across the country was amazing which gave us some assurance for Ghana football in future.”

He also urged the government to build infrastructure to absorb the talents that would emerge from the talent search initiatives.

“Talents are usually discovered through talents search programmes by private entities, but efforts must be made by the government to build infrastructure to complement the efforts of private individuals,” he stated.

“Usually, after discovering talents, the major challenge in Ghana is getting the right infrastructure to develop them to the fullest potential”, he stressed.

Former captain of the Black Stars and current national team coordinator, Stephen Appiah also asked players to continue working hard to become the best they could.

“It was very challenging selecting players for the final stages of the talent search as most of the participants were unique and determined to make an impact”, he stated.

“The only way to excel is to continue working hard to become the best among very good players, “he cautioned the players.