Ghanaian football legend Asamoah Gyan has expressed concern about the growing trend of converting large community pitches into smaller 5-aside pitches.
While acknowledging the benefits of having 5-aside pitches, Gyan emphasized the importance of preserving standard-sized pitches in communities to ensure the continued development of football at all levels.
Reflecting on the transformation of community pitches over the years, Gyan highlighted the impact of converting standard-sized pitches, once bustling with 11-aside Colts games, into smaller 5-aside setups.
"Picture the Dansoman community with one grassless standard-size football pitch some 15 years ago, active with 11-aside Colts games every Saturday," Gyan remarked.
He raised concerns about the potential loss of space for future players to compete and for Colts tournaments to thrive if standard-sized pitches are entirely replaced by smaller alternatives.
Gyan acknowledged the benefits of small pitches in fostering grassroots development, citing their role in enhancing close control, passing, creativity, and movement for young players.
However, he stressed that while small pitches complement football development, they should not overshadow or replace standard-sized pitches in Ghanaian communities.
"As a football nation, we cannot sacrifice quality and standards for convenience and aesthetics," Gyan asserted.
In conclusion, the Black Stars legend emphasized the need for a balance between small pitches and standard-sized ones, advocating for both types of pitches, whether natural or artificial, to coexist for grassroots development within communities.
I started my football journey as a Colts Player, playing on a grassless pitch every Saturday at Dansoman. Yet, it was this same grassless standard-size pitch that truly shaped me and a lot of my contemporaries. Does that mean we shouldn’t improve? No!
">https://twitter.com/ASAMOAH_GYAN3/status/1763253520499658804?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 29, 2024
— (@ASAMOAH_GYAN3) February 29, 2024
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