19th January, 2013 - The Ashesi soccer team, together with other students and staff from Ashesi, joined the Right to Dream (RtD) Soccer Academy community for an Open Day and Barbecue. The visit was a first step towards building a strong relationship between the two institutions.
RtD's Academy in Ghana is a non-profit, fully residential school which offers 100% scholarships to children aged 10 and above. Through elite soccer training programmes, international education, personal development and leadership philosophy, RtD aims to nurture the talents of the children, and mould them into future role models for Africa.
The team met with the founder of RtD, Tom Vernon, and other members of RtD’s management, who shared a brief history of the Academy, and expressed their hopes for the impact it would have on Ghana and Africa. The founder also spoke about working at RtD and how he hoped to able to work with Ashesi students and alumni to grow the Academy.
(Tom Vernon, founder of Right to Dream)
The facilities at RtD were impressive, and students who participated in the trip were excited about the work the Academy was doing in Africa.
“I am so impressed with what RtD is doing for sports in Africa,” said Anna-Lisa Hammond ‘14, head of the Sports Committee of Ashesi’s student government. “The academy is not just about football training, but it has also chosen to focus on character development and quality education. Ashesi needs to partner with them!”
In the friendly highlight game between the Ashesi soccer team and the U-15 team at RtD, Ashesi was thoroughly beaten 2-0. The U-15 team had incredible soccer acumen, and reminded the Ashesi soccer team that they were professional athletes. A smaller Ashesi student and staff team also 8-4 to a RtD staff team in an ‘8 aside’ game. Ouch!
(The Right to Dream Under-15 team played an outstanding game, beating Ashesi's soccer team by 2-0)
“We were pleasantly surprised by the skill and character of the students,” said Abigail Lartey, Asst. Career Services Director at Ashesi. “Visiting RtD was a great experience, and we are looking forward to working together with the Academy.”
To date, RtD has worked with over 90 children and its graduates have followed various pathways after leaving the Academy. Some graduates have been awarded full scholarships for their talent to leading universities, private boarding schools and colleges in the US and the UK whilst other RtD graduates have signed professional contracts for international football clubs. Other RtD graduates either train or work within the sports industry or have secured contracts with Ghanaian Premier League clubs.
Click here to learn more about the Right to Dream Soccer Academy
(Ashesi students and staff with James Meller, Head of Operations at Right to Dream)