October round-up

November 2011

We’ve had a great start to the new academic year at the Academy with several Right to Dream boys being selected to play for their country, an influx of new staff, boys being appointed new leadership positions as well as an excellent special assembly to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Just this week, current Academy boy Thomas Agyepong, along with graduate Bismark Adjei Boateng, was invited to attend the Ghana U20 camp to commence preparations to play Italy next month.  They will be training amongst 20 other young men, including Right to Dream forma player Sai Michael, at the Ghanaman Soccer School of Excellence in Prampram.  This is certainly an exciting opportunity for all those involved and a great mark in their footballing careers. 

Earlier this month, graduate Mohammed Abu, played his first match for Ghana’s national team, the Black Stars, in a qualifying match against Sudan for the 2012 African Cup of Nations.  Coming on as a second-half substitute, Abu had a good opportunity to demonstrate his strengths to the coach and performed well.   His second cap occurred just a few days later in a match against Nigeria where Abu played a strong first half for his nation.  Another exciting milestone for Abu is his recent contract extension with Manchester City.  He joined City in the summer of 2010 and was immediately loaned to Stromsgodset.  Abu’s new deal with City means that he will remain under the wings of the club until June 2014.

A delighted Abu told mcfc.co.uk, "I'm so happy to get a new contract, and to see that the club have a lot of faith in what I've done. I am working towards the day when I can wear a Manchester City shirt in a first team game."

Back at the Academy, our new leaders for the year were announced with Eric Opoku selected as the Academy Captain and Richard Mensah stepping up into the Vice Academy Captain position.  Congratulations also to Daniel, Theo, Emmanuel, Muntari and Collins for taking on other positions of responsibility.  The boys have important roles to play setting good examples to the younger students and helping with the general operation of Academy life.   

A special assembly was held to mark International Day for the Eradication of Poverty with presentations, debates, videos as well as Form 1 performing a song they had written about poverty – a great morning marking the importance of the day and provoking fruitful discussions about ways in which such issues can be addressed.

All in all, a promising start to the new academic year!