Ghana Women's Football Mourns Patricia Ofori
Ghana women's football has been thrown into a state of shock and mourning following the death of former international star, Patricia Ofori, who was killed in a car accident in the United States Wednesday.
Pat Ofori, 29, was killed in the car accident in Huntsville on her way to school as she was pursuing a Masters programme.
According to reports, she lost control of her Ford Mustang while driving south on Pulaski Pike just outside Huntsville. Her car slid into the northbound lane, where it was hit by a pickup truck and caught fire.
According to Diane Wilkinson Snoddy, an instructor at Alabama A&M University, Ofori, who was in graduate school, was on the way to class when the accident happened.
Pat as she was popularly called by her Queens teammates, was an aluminus of Alabama A&M University where she excelled in football as well as her academic work.
“This is the biggest shock of my life,” A&M women’s soccer coach Frank Davies said. “It’s unbelievable.”
She played for the Bulldogs from 2005-2007 and led the team to the 2007 Southwestern Athletic Conference championship and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
She was a second-team All-SWAC selection in 2005 and also played on two World Cup teams with Ghana.
A defender, Ofori started her career in Ghana with Mawuena Ladies and was first invited to the Queens by Coach E.K Afranie before earning a regular place in the national team in 2003 under Coach Okoe Aryee.
She played for the Queens in the 2003 and 2007 Women’s World Cup and in the African Women’s Championship.
The chairman of the Women’s League Board and Black Queens Management Committee, Mr Fred Crentsil, described her death as ‘shocking and a great loss to women’s football,’ while some of her teammates in the United States who had called to confirm Ofori’s death said they were still in a sate of shock.
Coach E.K Afranie said her death was a big blow to women’s football as she had plans to put herself at the services of the women’s game after her education.