Open letter to Coach Kim Lars Björkegren
Dear Coach Björkegren, This may be an unusual way to reach you, but as someone who has made a career of telling Ghana’s most compelling sports stories, and as a strong voice on women’s football, I trust you will indulge me.
You have been in the role of Head Coach of Ghana’s senior women’s football team, the Black Queens, for only a short time, yet it is already clear that you have settled in with remarkable ease.
The signs are promising that you could achieve something significant with this team, and over time, perhaps, something historic.
First, congratulations on leading the Queens to a bronze medal at the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco.
To achieve that on your first attempt — just months into the role — is no small feat. It has been six long years since Ghana last reached a WAFCON podium, and in that time, the team has struggled to hold its place among Africa’s elite.
Your success has not only revived hope but also reignited the belief that this team can rise higher.
Celebrations
You may have wondered why the huge celebrations surrounded the third-place finish at Morocco 2024, but please do understand that it was relief for football lovers starved of success at the continental or global level, and for the Ghana Football Association (GFA), which has had little to celebrate across the national teams in recent years.
The last time we achieved a similar feat was at the 2018 tournament in Cameroun, after which the Black Queens have struggled for relevance among the leading African teams.
Since 2018, the Black Queens have seen five coaching changes — a revolving door that has denied the team the stability and continuity it needs to compete consistently at the highest level.
The problem has never been a shortage of talent; Ghana has always been rich in it.
The issue has been inadequate preparation, underinvestment, poor long-term planning and frequent changes in technical leadership.
I hope your presence will make a difference. For one, you have promised that you will see out your contract and possibly stay on longer than any of your predecessors —no Black Queens coach has done so for more than two years since 1997.
That commitment alone offers a rare chance to build a foundation for sustained success.
A long-term presence will give the team the technical stability that has been missing for decades.
Goodwill, expectations
What is more, you enjoy a level of goodwill that no previous coach of the team has been afforded. President John Dramani Mahama has personally assured you of national support, and expressed his hope that under your leadership, Ghana will win its first-ever WAFCON title before his term ends.
No coach has ever had that kind of presidential commitment after winning bronze.
This is a unique opportunity.
Please, do not let it go to waste.
We have been here before with high expectations.
Your immediate predecessor, Nora Häuptle, was backed to succeed but departed for Zambia when the Black Queens needed her most, citing a lack of support.
You cannot be accused of lacking that support now.
If you deliver, you will not only achieve your own ambitions, but also secure a place in Ghanaian football history.
Homegrown players
When the Queens made their mark in the 1990s, the squad was entirely home-based, yet they earned three consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup appearances and a reputation as one of Africa’s best.
Today, the football landscape has changed. Many of our brightest players earn contracts abroad, while Ghanaian-born talents raised overseas are increasingly available for national selection.
In the past, some of these players born overseas struggled to settle down for different reasons.
You have already shown that you can integrate such players effectively, as seen with Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah and Josephine Bonsu at the WAFCON.
That is commendable. However, I urge you to ensure that in your quest for glory, you do not overlook the local game.
We have seen this happen with the men’s national team, Black Stars, where home-based players, if included at all, spend most of their time on the bench.
Coach Bjorkegren, as one who believes in the potential of local players, one of the things I look forward to is how you will raise the confidence of more home-based players to believe they can fight for a place on the national team.
A fair balance between foreign-based and home-based players will strengthen not only the national team but also the domestic league, a competition that has already produced stars like Comfort Yeboah, Grace Asantewaa, Portia Boakye and Alice Kusi.
Make this your legacy, and your name will be spoken of with the same reverence as Burkhard Ziese, the German coach who transformed the Black Stars in the early ’90s, and is still celebrated to this day.
Road ahead
In a few months, the Queens will return to action against Egypt in the qualifiers for the 2026 WAFCON, a tournament that will double as the pathway to the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
From what you have started, there is reason to believe you can take this team even further.
Coach Björkegren, the foundation has been laid.
The talent is there.
The nation is behind you.
What you do next will define not only your tenure but also the future of the Black Queens.
I wish you well and assure you of my support.
