Asante Kotoko will be gathering a pioneering 25-man squad to begin its youth academy by the end of the year.
The players who will be recruited for U12 and U15 will form the first generation of the ‘Fabulous Academy’.
The players will be made to reside with selected families in Kumasi with total cost of their upkeep absorbed by the club in a unique ‘Host Family System’.
This system has been adopted through Kotoko’s partnership relationship with English club Sunderland as work progress on the construction of a hostel facility meant to host the academy players.
“We look to begin the Kotoko academy by the end of the year using a system we adopted from Sunderland called the ‘Host Family Systemn,†Kotoko’s International Relations Manager Kwame Baah-Nuakoh told MTNFootball.com.
“This system will basically see selected families host our academy players with Kotoko bearing all the associated costs from schooling, feeding, transportation and the like.
“This will be temporal measure as construction of the hostel facility to host the players is ongoing.
“We look to select 25 players as the pioneering squad for the academy and we look to grow it gradually as we make progress.â€
Sunderland have agreed to assist Kotoko to raise the needed funds to start the academy using the Host Family System by the end of the year following fruitful discussions with the leadership of both clubs in the UK.