Following the successful completion of the fourth edition of the Frafra Unity Soccer Tournament, in Bolgatanga, there is a renewed call for unity, peaceful coexistence and increased investment in community sports.

The call is to empower the youth and unearth local football talents.

The tournament, which brings together Frafra-speaking communities within the Bolgatanga Municipality, is aimed at fostering social cohesion while using football as a tool for peacebuilding, youth development and community growth.

A total of 19 communities participated in this year’s edition.

In the grand finale, the Tanzui community defeated the Dapooretindongo community with a two to zero score to win the tournament for the second time.

Tanzui has now featured in three finals out of the four editions held since the competition’s inception in 2021, winning two titles.

Speaking after the final, Mr Nelson Jose Abagna, Lead of the Organising Committee, said the competition was born out of the need to create a unifying platform for Frafra-speaking communities within the Bolga enclaves to consolidate the prevailing peace, unity and social cohesion.

“We realised that in this part of the region, we do not have anything significant to hold ourselves together, so we decided to use football as a tool to bring our people together, promote peace and drive development,” he explained.

Mr Abagna stressed that beyond fostering unity, community-based sports competitions were critical for identifying raw football talents and providing meaningful engagement for the youth.

“There is a lot of talent at the community level, but without platforms like this, many of these young people will never be seen or supported. Investing in community football competitions is an investment in youth empowerment, discipline and livelihoods,” he said.

He noted that while last year’s winning community received a mechanised borehole, this year’s edition ensured that all participating communities went home with footballs, in addition to cash prizes for the finalists.

Looking ahead, Mr Abagna appealed to corporate institutions, philanthropists and development partners to support community sports initiatives to sustain the tournament and expand its developmental impact.

“Our dream is to attract more partners so that, beyond football, we can deliver legacy projects such as schools or other social infrastructure to winning communities. This will motivate participation and deepen community ownership of the competition,” he added.

He expressed gratitude to Friends of Prosper, a group of philanthropists, for sponsoring this year’s tournament with 21 sets of jerseys, footballs for the participating teams and over GH¢30,000 to support its organisation.

At the awards ceremony, Tanzui community received medals, a trophy and a cash prize of GH¢3,000, while runners-up Dapooretindongo community received medals and GH¢2,000.

The management of the Friends of Prosper, commended the organisers for the foresight to engage youth to ensure discipline and resilience against social vices such as drugs and alcoholism and reiterated their commitment to supporting the tournament beyond this year.

Tindaana Baba Ayeta Yagele Kuure, the Tindaana (Landowner/Traditional Spiritual Head) of Tindonmolgo community in Bolgatanga, urged the communities to strengthen the unity for sustained development.

The Frafra Unity Soccer Tournament has been identified as a strategic grassroots platform for promoting peace, youth empowerment and community development within the Bolgatanga Municipality.