The Ghana Football Association (GFA) says its plans to relaunch and expand Colts football for the 2026-27 season were already in place before President John Dramani Mahama publicly called for the revival of the youth game.
Following the launch of the new Colts season, some football observers linked the initiative to the President’s recent appeal for greater investment in youth football.
But GFA president Kurt Okraku had outlined the Association’s Colts football plans weeks earlier as part of a wider grassroots development programme.
Speaking earlier at Congress at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram on 20 August, Okraku announced that Colts football would become a major priority for the Association during the 2026-27 season, with an official launch scheduled for September in Accra.
“This year, Colts football will be at the forefront of a lot of things that we’ll be doing. In the month of September, we will be launching the Colts football season,” he said.
Okraku described Colts football as “the heartbeat of our game”, arguing that investing in children is essential to securing the future of Ghana football.
He revealed that 859 registered Colts clubs are currently operating across Ghana’s 10 football regions, providing structured competitions for boys at Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 levels, as well as girls’ Under-15 and Under-17 competitions.
The GFA also outlined a series of investments aimed at strengthening the grassroots game.
The Association will distribute footballs worth $100,000 to Colts clubs nationwide for a third successive year and has invested GH¢1.8m over the past two seasons to train 600 coaches through its CAF Licence D coaching programme.
Free player registration and digital licences for up to 90 players per Colts club will continue, while training programmes will also be extended to scouts, referees, administrators and other youth football stakeholders.
Among the new initiatives for the 2026-27 campaign is the introduction of the Kivo JLab Under-17 Inter-Club Champions League.
The GFA has also committed GH¢800,000 to help Regional Football Associations organise Under-15 Girls Colts Leagues across the country.
According to Okraku, the projects — backed by partners including the KGL Foundation, Kivo and JLab — are designed to strengthen the pathway from grassroots football to the higher levels of the game.
With the fifth edition of the Colts football programme now under way, the Association’s attention turns to ensuring the investments translate into sustained opportunities for clubs, coaches and the next generation of Ghanaian footballers.
