As part of the ongoing Elite U15 Girls Championships, the medical team, led by Dr. Christiana Baah, have taken the ten participating teams through sessions on medical care and guidance.
All the ten (10) regions took turns to attend the sessions which covered areas such as experiences of teenagehood, transitioning to womanhood, lifestyle, personal hygiene and athlete nutrition, among others.
The young girls were also briefed on the importance of education and were offered some guidance on career paths associated with playing football.
Speaking with GFA Communications after the sessions with the Girls, Dr. Baah emphasized the importance of inculcating medical ethics and discipline among the girls at this level of their career.
“It is important to inculcate in the teenagers the medical ethics of the profession they seek to pursue. The main aim of the session is also to guide them to understand and appreciate their youthfulness as teenagers and to prepare them for the unforeseen events that they may encounter, as they progress in their career to late teenagehood and adult life,” she noted.
“There is the need for conscious efforts to guide them towards living a healthy life and observing personal hygiene on a daily basis, paying attention to their nutrition, the different forms of doping substances and more importantly, how to psyche themselves in their quest to offer their best in their chosen profession,” she added.
The medical staff supporting medical operations for the maiden edition of the Elite U15 Girls Championships, including Mavis Adjeley Agoe, Philemon Baah Adolfo, Pamela Afriyie Yirenkyi, Afia Peprah Gyamfua Ampomah and Wendy Osei Boateng were actively involved in the session on Monday afternoon.
The championship, which is focused on talent identification has so far witnessed budding talents showcasing their immense potential and quality at the Technical Centre of the Ghana Football Association, the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence, in Prampram.
It also forms part of the implementation phase of FIFA’s Talent Development Scheme (TDS) by the GFA, aimed at talent identification and development of the next generation of top female footballers.