Mfantsipim - Adisadel Fun Games: A South - South Cooperation

The annual Mfantsipim-Adisadel Fun Games will take place on Saturday, October 24 at the El-Wak Sports Stadium. This year's edition is the 15^th. This year has been dedicated to the Methodist Church and Anglican Church and the founders of Mfantsipim School and Adisadel College. It is under the theme: Celebrating the Methodist Church and the Anglian Church Educational Visions'.

During this year's games, old students from Mfantsipim, Adisadel, Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast, Holy Child School, Mfantsiman and St. Monica's Secondary School together with family members and friends will converge on the El-Wak Sports Stadium to rekindle friendship, reminisce their school days, exercise and have fun while raising funds to support their alma mater.

Activities lined up include football, which will feature decade teams of Mfantsipim and Adisadel, a knockout football competition for Wesley Girls High School, Holy Child School, Mfantsiman and St Monica's School selected sides. As well as athletics events I and a special 'jama' session. The current cricket, basketball and football teams of Mfantsipim and Adisadel will also participate to climax the event.

It all began in Cape Coast, arguably the educational capital of Ghana. The history of Mfantsipim and Adisadel and secondary school education in Ghana can be said to be intertwined with the spiritual and political history of this country and in particular with the political agitation for self-government leading ultimately to national independence.

Writing in his book 'MFANTSIPIM AND THE MAKING OF HISTORY', the late Prof. A. Adu-Boahen, an old boy of Mfantsipim states at Page 3: 'Mfantsipim was founded in response to certain stimuli typical of the 1870s, namely the political conditions of the day, the demand of Ghanaians and of the Wesleyan Mission for higher education and above all the personal interest and dynamism of Revs. G. W. Grimmer, Thomas Picot and Thomas Birch Freeman, the founding fathers of Ghanaian Methodism. Indeed, considering the circumstances leading to its foundation and the needs that the institution was meant to serve, the surprising fact is not that Mfantsipim was founded in 1876 but that it was not founded earlier'.

As a result of a decision taken at the Synod of 1876, the Methodist Church on April 3, 1876 established in Cape Coast, a boys' school called the Wesleyan High School. The school had 17 students with Mr. John Picot, the 18 year old brother of Rev. Thomas Picot as its first Principal. By the end of the year, the student population had increased to 28. In the early stages of its life, the school experienced a lot of difficulties including the shortage of funds, unsuitable accommodation and inadequate qualified teaching staff. In 1891, the name of the school was changed to Wesleyan Collegiate School with no appreciable improvement in its fortune. This led John Mensah Sarbah (a founding student of Wesleyan High School) and others to form a company called 'Fante Public School Limited' with the objective of advancing higher education through the establishment and improvement of higher education institutions in the country. In April 1905, the company founded a high school and called it Mfantsipim.

Both Wesleyan Collegiate School and Mfantsipim experienced more serious difficulties through lack of resources and unhealthy rivalry between them. An amicable agreement was arrived at when in July 1905, the two schools were amalgamated under the overall management of the Methodist Church. The amalgamated school adopted the name Mfantsipim with its motto: 'Dwin Hwe Kan'.

Adisadel College on the other hand was founded on January 4, 1910 and was modeled on the typical English public school. The school's original name was S.P.G. (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) Grammar School. It later became St. Nicolas Grammar School and finally becoming Adisadel College when it moved to its current location at Adisadel Village, Cape Coast.

The school's founder was the Right Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Temple Hamlyn of the Anglican Church. He started with 29 boys. His purpose in establishing the school was to provide for some Anglican parents, opportunities for education of the grammar school type. In particular, his objective was to provide a training ground for turning out well-equipped personnel as workers for the church.

Today, both Mfantsipim and Adisadel sit astride two hills at Cape Coast facing each other like two ancient Roman gladiators ready for a battle to death, both ensuing pride and prejudice in their abilities and achievements. The reputation of the two schools has always been that of excellence, spiced with an age-old rivalry that has been healthy and vibrant in sports and academia. Today, Cape Coast is the home of some of the best senior high schools in the country. In addition, Cape Coast has a university, a polytechnic, a technical institute and vocational and business schools as well as numerous junior secondary schools. All these add up to the healthy rivalry among the educational institutions in the metropolis.

The history of the fun games started in1992 when members of the Mfantsipim Old Boys Association (MOBA) and Adisadel Old Students Association (Santaclausians) decided to translate the intense healthy rivalry into healthy south-south cooperation by organising an annual fun football gala between themselves. The inaugural ceremony took place at the British Council auditorium in the presence of Mr. Sam Nana Brew Butler, (MOBA) who was then the Chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA). A trophy was donated by Mr. J.V.L. Philips, the then MOBA Ebusuapanyin (President) to be used for the competition. The first games were held at the El-Wak Sports Stadium

On August 30, 2002, the 10^th milestone celebration of the games was launched at the Ashbury Dunwell Chapel (Methodist conference Headquarters, Accra) with Prof. Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi (a Santaclausian), the then Minister of Education as the Guest of Honour. During the 2002 fun games, in keeping with tradition, three other schools were invited to take part. The adopted wives of the two competing schools, Wesley Girls High School and Holy Child School plus Mfantsiman were invited to present teams.

This year, in keeping with tradition, great games, great fun and great achievements are bound to occur. Numerous souvenirs of the competing schools will be on sale. In particular amidst all the excitement and jubilation shall reverberate the two famous songs of the two schools, the two Mfantsipim traditional school songs: 'Dwen Hwe Kan' and 'For All the Saints' and the Adisadel ode: 'Up Santaclausians'.

Come along on Saturday, October 24, 2015 at the El-Wak Sports Stadium, No freeping allowed, it will be HU!

E-mail: [email protected]
By Kwame Gyasi