{"id":668389,"date":"2019-07-31T06:29:35","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T06:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"
\n

On a rough sandy playing surface in Tafo, James Eduful is wheeling himself up and down the touchline. He is animated \u2013 on the edge of his seat. As he interrupts the training session, he almost falls out of his wheelchair before retreating to "},"modified":"2019-07-31T06:29:35","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T06:29:35","slug":"crippled-at-age-9-professional-football-coach-at-age-18-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/31\/crippled-at-age-9-professional-football-coach-at-age-18-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Crippled at age 9, professional football coach at age 18 [Video]"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

On a rough sandy playing surface in Tafo, James Eduful is wheeling himself up and down the touchline. He is animated \u2013 on the edge of his seat. As he interrupts the training session, he almost falls out of his wheelchair before retreating to the middle of his seat, livid.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did I tell you?!\u201d He queried rhetorically.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you pass the ball to your teammate, you run into space. Don\u2019t stand there. If you don\u2019t move, you limit your teammate\u2019s options,\u201d James barked out.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

To demonstrate to his players what he demanded of them, James left the \u201ccomfort\u201d of his wheelchair, strapped his hands with slippers as a makeshift football boot, and joined the action. Supported by one feeble leg and his two hands, almost like a four-legged human \u2013 he moved fluidly into spaces, knocking passes around as he received them; even giving a \u201cno-look\u201d pass at one point.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

James and his children had to tweak the football rules to accommodate him in moments like these.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult coaching children. Sometimes I have to get off my wheelchair and demonstrate to them what I want them to do. Because I play with my hands, we have come up with a rule that when the ball touches my leg, it\u2019s a foul,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It made for a fascinating spectacle as I watched while the man affectionately called \u201cCoach Sympathy\u201d opened my eyes to his true abilities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For the last ten years, this has been the story of James Eduful, the 30-year old coach dishing out tactics on a wheelchair in Ghana\u2019s Division II league.<\/p>\n

At age seven, just like many Ghanaian boys at his age, James had a dream of becoming the next Abedi Pele. But on one evening in 1996, that dream turned into a nightmare as his life changed forever.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI was returning from the farm with my mother and it was raining heavily. I was six or seven years old, so I couldn\u2019t walk through the heavy rain, so my mother carried me on her back,\u201d James narrated.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn our way, she slipped, and I fell off her back. But it was not until we got home that we realized I had broken my legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents tried to fix it with traditional medicine because they didn\u2019t have money to take me to the hospital, and as you can see, that didn\u2019t work out and now I\u2019m crippled,\u201d James said, with his voice breaking.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

James\u2019s tragedy at that early age was only just beginning. Two years after the accident, his mother died just days after giving birth to his sister.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cMy aunt took care of me and my sister till we completed Junior High School. It was very tough growing up because she had lots of children of her own,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

James was born on November of 1989, in a small town called Koduakrom in the Tarkwa-Damang District of the Western Region. Together with his nine other cousins, growing up was a constant fight for survival.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI used to crawl because until I went to Senior High School, I didn\u2019t have a wheelchair,\u201d he said of his childhood.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He navigated the early years of school successfully and completed senior high school in 2007. But with no money to continue his education, James took a drastic decision to leave home.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoney was not the only reason I left home. I established a youth team there with U-10s, but my uncle used to discourage me. He used to tell me that I\u2019d break my hands too and I\u2019d have nothing to use to crawl.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cHe always knew the right thing to say to put me down. One day I just decided to pack my bags and leave for Kumasi to pursue my dream,\u201d James said with a smile.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The dream was to become a football coach. In 2007, James Eduful, affectionately called Coach Sympathy, set up a colt\u2019s team in the Tafo area in Kumasi, training players from U-10 up to U-17. For the last 10 years, each evening after school, Coach Sympathy would gather his players on the grassless gravel playing surface at the Pentecostal Educational Complex.<\/p>\n

When I made the trip to Kumasi to meet James, he volunteered to come get me when I got off my taxi at the Pentecost school junction. At first, I thought \u201cwhat a kind gesture\u201d. But as we wriggled our way through the perilous traffic and crossed busy streets, I soon realized just how magnificent the gesture was.<\/p>\n

For 30 minutes, each day, for the last ten years, Coach Sympathy has navigated dangerous traffic to go train his boys.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very dangerous moving through traffic each day because some of the drivers are very careless. But I love what I\u2019m doing and nothing will stop me. Working with children fills me with joy. When they succeed, it\u2019s like I succeeded.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

James got his first wheelchair in secondary school. He says a movie star bought him the wheelchair he currently uses.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cA teacher bought my first wheelchair for me. Before then, I used to crawl and children used to run away from me whenever they saw me. But now they are used to me. The wheelchair I\u2019m using now, Nana Ama McBrown bought it for me after she learned of my situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Coach Sympathy takes his schedule seriously. I had been speaking to him for 30 minutes; but as the clock struck 4:00pm, he stopped the interview to set up the day\u2019s training session. His 10 kids, aged 10 to 14, formed two lines of 5, opposite each other. Today\u2019s task is a quick passing drill.<\/p>\n

The training is competitive. A lot of the kids have football boots on; but none with shin guards. That did not stop the tackles from sliding in as Coach Sympathy barked out instructions from the touch line.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He soon joined the action, serving as a neutral player available, to receive the ball for either side that found him useful.<\/p>\n

James has been working as an amateur coach pretty much all of his adult life. He tells me some of the boys he has trained over the last ten years, have gone on to do greater things.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOne of my children was invited to the 2017 Ghana U-17 squad. He plays at Right to Dream Academy now. He didn\u2019t make the final squad; but I was proud that he was even considered in the first place.<\/p>\n

Another one has got the opportunity in Europe and currently plays for a Division Two club in Portugal.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On the rough playing surface in Tafo, training had been ongoing for nearly 30 minutes. I managed to pull three kids aside for a quick word.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach Sympathy is different from all the other coaches. He doesn\u2019t discriminate, unlike my coaches in school. He will play you if you\u2019re good, no matter your age,\u201d Mandela Arhin, 13-year-old captain of the U-15 team said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like him because he doesn\u2019t only teach us football, but always reminds of the word of God,\u201d 11-year-old Dominic Danso Mensah said of James.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when we go to play matches away, he uses his own money to buy us water or food,\u201d 12-year-old Devine Deku said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not only the kids that have big dreams of playing for the bigger teams around the world. James has told me about his dreams of coaching and helping nurture young talents for Ghana\u2019s national teams.<\/p>\n

In June 2017, he took a massive step towards achieving that dream. He was appointed the head coach of a division two club, KSV First Light FC at Kasoa in the Central region.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember when I was being introduced to the players, everyone was wondering how a crippled person was going to coach them. I told them not to look at my disability but to judge me by what I can do.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy God\u2019s grace, when I took charge at the end of the first round, they were 2nd<\/sup> from bottom, fighting relegation. But by the end of the second round, we finished 3rd<\/sup> on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

James\u2019 efforts have not gone unnoticed by his bosses.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an amazing feeling. I was very happy with the way James turned things around. In fact, he has brought a lot of positive atmosphere to my team and everywhere we go, people are eager to come watch us,\u201d Daniel Nii Tackie, Chairman of First Light FC said.<\/p>\n

The team is located in Kojoku, 30 minutes from Kasoa in the Central Region. At first, it appeared the middle of nowhere. But football makes this place come alive. I tracked down two players from KSV First Light FC, Joseph Ephson and Eric McCarthy, both 17.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember when the chairman introduced him, nobody was impressed. We thought the chairman wasn\u2019t serious. But after one training session, our opinions completely changed,\u201d Ephson said<\/p>\n

\"\".<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has brought a lot of freedom to the way we play which has allowed us to thrive. The previous coach was a little too rigid,\u201d McCarthy said of James\u2019 style.<\/p>\n

Joseph Abayertey is the head coach of Kojoku United, who plays in Ghana\u2019s division 3 league. He\u2019s known James for 2 years now, and he recounts how much influence James has brought to not just First Light FC, but the whole community of Kojoku.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this our area, I don\u2019t think anyone can compare to him in terms of coaching. Every time we have a game, I call him to come and watch and give his advice and that has helped me a lot personally,\u201d Abayertey said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

James is active on Facebook with over 1,700 friends on the social networking site. On October 13, 2017, he put up a lengthy post and tagged the Facebook page of the President Akufo-Addo. In the post, he detailed the work he did and asked people to support in providing football equipment for the children he trains. He urged others to share his post to their friends. No one shared the post. Just one comment and 3 likes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I put that post up, I was expecting a lot of people to comment and offer help and all that but nothing happened. But as I always say, nothing will discourage me. I know one day my helper will come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I see disabled people begging, it breaks my heart; but it\u2019s understandable. It\u2019s not easy being in our situation. But I can never see myself begging on the streets. I will keep pushing until I succeed in this job.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Much like his mentor Pep Guardiola, who redefined the way the modern game is played with his tiki-taka revolution at Barcelona, James will need something similar as he strives to achieve greater heights with KSV First Light.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to play in the MTN FA Cup and do well there and also try and secure promotion to Division One. That\u2019s my target right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the American philosopher Andrew Bernstein who said; \u201cNothing is given to man on earth \u2013 struggle is built into the nature of life \u2013 the hero is the man who lets no obstacle prevent him from pursuing the values he has chosen.\u201d James chose a dream, traversing a field never thought possible for people like him. But there\u2019s no stopping him now as he rolls out tactics on a wheelchair.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Watch the full documentary below:<\/strong><\/p>\n