MTN Soccer Academy 4- West Africa on Metro TV
One of Ghana's biggest TV Series, the Soccer Academy TV Reality Show, will soon enter its fourth season this year on Metro TV.
Dubbed 'MTN Soccer Academy 4- West Africa', the show will see further extension of its scope to include other West African countries; Liberia, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire and Benin who would all be joining their Ghanaian and Nigerian counterparts in this highly competitive Soccer reality show.
Drawing on the successes of the previous editions, organizers of the event, Marketing, Events & Communications giants, Optimum Media Prime, who began this novelty concept, have indicated some new and exciting twists to this year's event.
Enumerating some of the unique dimensions of this year's Soccer Academy, the CEO of OMP, Mr. Fadi Fattal indicated that unlike the previous years, this year's final 14 teammates will comprise 4 Ghanaians and 10 west African nationals i.e. 2 teammates each from the other participating West African countries – Nigeria, Liberia, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire and Benin.
He added that nationals of the participating West African countries living in Ghana including Liberians in the Budumburam camp can all take part in the competition.
Mr. Fattal noted that this year's screening, which will be held at the El-Wak Stadium, will span a period of 1 week, and instead of the usual 5- a side elimination matches, there will rather be 8- a side games which will be played on much bigger pitches, allowing the footballers enough space to express their talents in a faster and much packed action screening exercise.
Touching on the prizes at stake, Mr. Fattal stated that:'we believe that motivation is very vital in unearthing and helping people develop their potentials to the fullest, thus the need to put at stake prizes that will pose great challenge to the many young football talents in the West African sub-region.'
The Winner of this year's Soccer Academy will receive a 2-bedroom house and two-week training with South Africa's current PSL League Champions, Super Sport United. For their prizes, the 1st and 2nd runner ups will also receive a 4-wheel drive and a saloon car respectively. 'We have no doubt that these great prizes will serve as a source of inspiration to all the participants, and will indeed help to bring out the best in all of them,' Mr. Fattal added.
Another distinctive feature of this season's Soccer Academy will be the creation of a dedicated website for the show. The website, which is expected to start running in October, will keep patrons of the show with up-to-the-minute news on events and also serve as a platform for fans to express their views with respect to happenings in the show. Fans will also be treated to some competitions that will afford them the opportunity to win some exciting prizes.
This year's event is expected to be one of the most keenly contested since the introduction of the show, as Ghana plays host to other West African entrants who would be competing in the show for the first time.
The Soccer Academy TV Reality Show, since its inception has brought remarkable dimensions to bear on the development of football in the country living up to the vision 'catch them young' as it has helped to unearth many football talents and sharpened the skills of numerous budding footballers such as Gideon Baah, Stephen Sowu, Michael Gator, Mercy Myles, Arago Jamal and a host of others who are all products of this reality show, and now making tremendous strides in their various clubs.
According to Mr. Fattal, 'OMP and MTN, the show's title sponsor, have a common goal of contributing to the development of football in Ghana and beyond', hence, their continued support to the reality show. The show has also demonstrated to be a perfect medium for advertisers to further enhance the exposure and marketability of their products and services, as evident in the many companies that associate their brands with the show.
'We believe in the potential of our youth, hence, we will continue to provide them the necessary platform to excel and also make a difference in their communities,' Mr. Fattal re-iterated.
The reality show which is in its fourth season is opened to young males between the ages of (16 years) and (19 years), and all that is required to enter is to send a text message indicating their name, age, country and region of residence to MTN short