The Quiet Builder: How Coach Paul Freeman Amponsah Gave Ghana’s Girls a Future Through Football

He never won a continental trophy. He never coached the Black Stars. He never had a corporate sponsor or a government contract. What he had was a conviction that a girl from Pokuase with talent deserved the same chance as any boy in any academy in Accra. Coach Paul Freeman Amponsah spent his own money, built his own clubs, and rescued dozens of young women from obscurity. When he died suddenly in November 2026, Ghanaian football lost a pioneer whose legacy is measured not in medals but in lives.

The Early Life: A Player Who Became a Builder

Coach Paul Freeman Amponsah, popularly known as Coach Freeman, grew up with an intense passion for the game. He started out as a footballer himself, studying at the University of Management Studies and the Takoradi Technical University to build his foundation in academics and sports.

When his playing career ended, he dedicated himself to the technical side of the game. He earned his CAF License C coaching credentials and was actively working toward his License B. This was not a man who stumbled into coaching. He studied it, qualified in it, and committed to it.

But the certificate was only the beginning. What distinguished Coach Freeman was the path he chose. Unlike many coaches who waited for established clubs to hire them, he took the hard, self-sacrificing route of a grassroots bankroller. He did not wait for the system to provide. He became the system.

The Grassroots Builder: Scores FA and Valued Girls

Operating heavily out of the Pokuase area and beyond, Coach Freeman founded and funded his own academies to give hidden talents a platform.

Scores Football Academy was his self-funded male youth setup. It was designed to mould disciplined young boys into professional athletes. The academy was built from his own resources, with no external funding and no commercial backing.

Valued Girls FC was his premier female football team. Long before women’s football in Ghana received widespread commercial backing or respect, Coach Freeman personally funded Valued Girls. He paid for equipment, jerseys, and pitches out of his own pocket to give young girls hope and a future in sports.

This is the detail that matters most. In an era when women’s football was treated as an afterthought, Coach Freeman treated it as a priority. He did not wait for the Ghana Football Association to build a pathway. He built one himself. He did not wait for sponsors to fund girls’ teams. He funded them himself.

The “Effort, Initiative and Pride” blueprint he developed was acclaimed for shifting girls from a non-contact style of play into physically robust, highly skilled, and tactically confident athletes. He trained them to compete, not just to participate.

The Rise to the Elite: Berry Ladies FC

His exceptional reputation as a player developer eventually caught the eye of top-flight clubs. In January 2023, he took up a prominent managerial role with Berry Ladies Football Club, one of the premier forces in the Ghana Women’s Premier League.

At Berry Ladies, he served with distinction as a head technical figure and assistant coach. His tenure was characterised by a modern, possession-based approach, strict tactical discipline, and a stubborn trust in teenage prodigies. He successfully bridged the gap between raw grassroots energy and elite, high-stakes league execution.

Under his technical guidance, Berry Ladies FC achieved a historic milestone by finishing 3rd place in the 2023 Ghana Women’s Super Cup. It validated his transition from grassroots development to elite tournament execution. The man who had funded girls’ football out of his own pocket was now competing at the top level of the domestic game.

The Achievements That Matter

Coach Freeman’s achievements go far beyond standard trophy tallies. As a self-sacrificing grassroots bankroller, his ultimate achievement was building the foundational pathway for women’s football in Ghana during an era when the sport lacked systemic respect and financial backing.

He pioneered Valued Girls FC. He broke societal barriers by founding an academy designed specifically to discover hidden female talents. He personally funded jerseys, training equipment, and pitch rentals to keep girls in the game.

He built Scores Football Academy. He established a self-funded male youth setup, cementing his track record as a multi-faceted developer capable of shaping both male and female players into professionals.

He formulated a distinct tactical philosophy. His training shifted girls from a non-contact style of play into physically robust, highly skilled, and tactically confident athletes.

He reached the elite with Berry Ladies. His scouting eye and structural consistency earned him his appointment as head technical figure and assistant coach. The 2023 Women’s Super Cup podium finish validated his transition.

But his highest achievement remains the human capital he produced. He took teenagers from obscurity, instilled them with discipline, gave them an athletic education, and positioned them to sign professional contracts in the Ghana Women’s Premier League. His enduring trophy is the modern, flourishing ecosystem of the Ghanaian women’s game that he helped build from the ground up.

The Sudden Passing

Tragically, the Ghanaian football fraternity was plunged into deep mourning when Coach Paul Freeman Amponsah passed away suddenly in November 2026.

His passing sparked an immediate wave of grief and tribute from the Ghana Football Association, fans, and clubs across the country. Berry Ladies FC released a statement that captured his profound impact:

“We mourn the passing of Coach Freeman Amponsah, a pioneer of women’s football in Ghana and a dedicated advocate for the development of women in the game. He was a FATHER, MENTOR and PIONEER for so many young girls who dreamed of playing football.”

The word “father” was not a formality. He was a father figure to the girls he rescued from obscurity. He fed them, clothed them in jerseys, and gave them a reason to believe that football could be a future, not just a pastime.

The Legacy

Coach Freeman’s legacy endures through the dozens of players he rescued from obscurity, the academies he built from scratch, and his indelible footprint on the rise of the women’s game in West Africa.

He did not leave behind a stadium with his name on it. He did not leave behind a foundation with a corporate board. He left behind something more durable: the knowledge that a single person, with no institutional backing, can change the trajectory of an entire generation of girls.

The Ghana Women’s Premier League is stronger today because Coach Freeman built the pathway that feeds it. The girls who play in it are the daughters of his sacrifice. And the pioneers who come after him will stand on the ground he cleared.

Ghanaian football lost a builder in November 2026. But the buildings are still standing.

Quick Facts

Coach Paul Freeman Amponsah, popularly known as Coach Freeman, was a Ghanaian football coach and grassroots pioneer. He studied at the University of Management Studies and Takoradi Technical University. He earned his CAF License C and was working toward his License B. He founded and self-funded Scores Football Academy and Valued Girls FC. He operated heavily in the Pokuase area. In January 2023, he joined Berry Ladies FC as a head technical figure and assistant coach. Berry Ladies finished 3rd in the 2023 Ghana Women’s Super Cup under his technical guidance. He passed away suddenly in November 2026. Berry Ladies FC described him as a “FATHER, MENTOR and PIONEER” for young girls who dreamed of playing football.

Last Updated on November 9, 2026 by Samuel Kwame Boadu

Samuel Kwame Boadu

Samuel Kwame Boadu is a Ghanaian media entrepreneur and storyteller with a passion for amplifying urban voices and uncovering everyday truths. He is the Editor-in-Chief and Founder of Accra Street Journal, a dynamic digital platform dedicated to capturing the pulse of Ghana’s capital—its people, culture, challenges, business, sports and innovations.

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