Philip Aseweh, Medeama SC’s 22-year-old forward, is enjoying life on the pitch than he would have, if he had pursued the actual job areas around his educational qualification.
He was fortunate enough to get a scholarship to study at the Liberty University in the USA, and graduated with a first class (3.62 GPA) in 2012.
He achieved this feat despite combining football activities with academic work. Well, he had no choice because he got the scholarship through football.
Aseweh had his Senior High School (SHS) Education at Pope John Senior High School which is one of the renowned second cycle institutions in Ghana, noted for both academic and sports excellence.
When asked how he managed to excel at Liberty University with both sports and academics competing for his time, he simply attributed it to discipline.
“It was tough. I had to sacrifice my social life to make up for the lost times due to all the trips I made for games and training.
“Sometimes we made a five-hour journey for a game and on the way back, I had to study because I had a test the next day at 7 am,” the Accra-born said.
Aseweh, who hails from the Upper East Region in the West African country, wanted to play in the MLS. His main dream was to play for Chivas USA, but ended up at Dynamo Houston. Unfortunately, that dream was short-lived as the dream fell through. He spent only six-weeks with The Orange during their pre-season for the 2012/2013 campaign.
With his educational background and a dream to pursue a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in the not too distant future, one would have wished Aseweh would be in a corporate set-up doing something relating to Accounting/Finance. But for the young man, playing in the Ghana Premier League is a cushion for him.
“I knew I wanted to play after I left USA for Ghana, but I didn’t even think of the GPL. I wanted to go to Europe but I think the Ghana Premier League is okay for me now.”
He described the GPL as an interesting journey in his career. The lanky player has played in 13 matches for Medeama at the end of the first round of the Ghana Premier League- six starts and seven substitute appearances.
Quite a number of graduates have graced the Ghana Premier League- including the current Kotoko coach David Duncan, former Kotoko midfielders Yusif Chibsah (currently an MBA holder) and Frank Boateng as well as former Hearts of Oak duo Solomon Okutu and Uriah Asante.
By: Umar Farouk Atipaga/citifmonline.com/Ghana