Samson Kwasi Awe Awiah's mission to make cricket a popular sport in Ghana

Samson Kwasi Awe Awiah's life mission is teaching children in diverse Ghanaian communities and schools the sport of cricket by offering free coaching lessons.

With cricket being a part of the upcoming 2024 African Games in Ghana for the first time, Samson believes it is important to showcase the sport to more people, especially children.

The "gentleman's sport", as he calls it, has had a major influence on his life choices and the man he is today.

"Cricket has many set of rules that makes you intelligent on and off the field. Cricket is like life, when you are playing, there are 11 people trying to eliminate you and through all this, you only have one chance especially if you are a batsman like myself," Samson told Olympics.com.

The sport of cricket is widely known as "chaskele" in Ghana but most of the original rules do not apply in this Ghanaian version. Children play it in their communities with old tin cans, a roller ball from disposed deodorants, and sticks.

This is the narrative Samson wants to change, by introducing and promoting cricket being played the right way.

Samson Awiah and the man in dreadlocks

Samson grew up in Achimota, a suburb of Accra big on sports like golf, cricket, football, and athletics. During inter-house competitions at Achimota Senior High School, a curious Samson would go and watch the students play on the field.

He loved athletics at the time and enjoyed watching the 100m races, which he found exciting. When he was in Primary 4 (aged 10), he went with his friends to watch athletics as he usually did when they met a man in dreadlocks.

"Philip Taylor, may God rest his soul, introduced me to cricket," he recalled. "My friends and I had gone to watch athletics at the school but we realised they were done. That is when we saw two Ghanaians and a Rastaman [Philip Taylor] playing cricket on the field".

"Mr. Philip asked us if we wanted to play and we accepted. We threw balls around and hit them with a bat. The rest is history," Samson recounted.

Samson's pursuit of cricket met with some pushback from his parents. He remembered his father even "warned coaches to leave his son alone because they were distracting him from his studies". But however hard he tried, he could not stay away from cricket; it had become a way of life for him and he was already aspiring at this point to go into it full-time.

His coaches managed to make Samson's parents understand how excellent their son was at the sport, assuring his father that cricket wouldn't come at the expense of Samson's education.

Samson went on to play for the Forresters Club, a cricket club dedicated to young children develop their skills in cricket, winining a host of awards including "Most Promising Cricket Player".

This performance did not go unnoticed and before he went to senior high school, he had earned a national team call-up - a feat he remembers fondly with pride.

"I was the only teenager on the team. There were 30-year-olds and players in their forties there and I remember being honoured to learn from them," Samson recounted.

Other awards Samson has since picked up include "Best Cricket Player" at the 2023 Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) Awards and being named Best Batter at the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier (Group B) hosted in Rwanda.

"During that particular tournament, I remember being unwell and I couldn't train too well. It was an honour for me to be named the best out of over 60 players," Samson said.

From playing to coaching... and curating

When Samson completed senior high school, he went into cricket full-time after managing to convince his parents. He went on to participate in more tournaments and took coaching courses in Zimbabwe and South Africa, two countries with greater cricket traditions.

"I believe in education but I also believe in the power of following your passion. I think when you believe in something and it fulfills your soul, just go all out," Samson said.

The sport of cricket is played by a select few schools in Ghana, and the limited amount of cricket coaches, equipment, and infrastructure poses a challenge to the development of the sport.

"The basic thing that we need to do for the development of cricket in schools is to add it to the extracurricular activities," Samson advises.

Samson has offered coaching lessons in schools with the necessary facilities. Whenever he is free, he also does an hour of free coaching for children in diverse suburbs of Accra including Haatso, Madina, and Ofankor. He hopes to introduce more children to the game, saying coaching children is "a feeling money can't buy".

In 2020, after pandemic restrictions were first eased, he started a grassroots cricket program in Ofankor. He got a small field to coach children in the community. Not only that, he provided them with drinks, and water, and bought footwear for them from his funds.

"I like bringing myself down to the level of these kids, understanding them, and having fun with them. It is the best feeling in the world."

Samson has co-founded a cricket club in Ghana called Supreme Cricket Club and it is open to children of all ages. It is recognised by the Ghana Cricket Association and they play in the various Ghanaian cricket leagues including the Presidential Invitational Tournament held from January to August.

He plans on retiring from playing soon after dedicating over 20 years of his life to the game. A goal of his after retirement is to build a cricket facility at the Ghana Atomic Basic School where he offers free coaching currently, with full-time coaching and being a groundsman also on his radar.

He already assists grounds curators in making sure cricket fields meet international standards especially now that the African Games are inching closer. Currently, the only field in Ghana that meets International Cricket Council (ICC) standards is the Achimota Cricket Oval, which Samson has been working with to help meet the standards ahead of the African Games.

Not only that, he plans on spearheading the construction of more cricket fields nationwide.

Expectations for the African Games

Ghana will be hosting the All Africa Games from March 8 to March 23 in the capital, Accra.

Samson will captain the Ghana cricket team and he admits Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Uganda are going to be stiff opponents but he assures Ghanaian fans that the team will give their 100 percent in each game.

He admitted: "the games were going to be tough but in cricket, it can be anyone's game", before expressing a desire for Ghana to participate in a greater number of international tournaments in order to enhance their skills and techniques, as the limited number of tournaments they currently play has had an impact on their performance in games.

One challenge he anticipates during the Games is the fans' limited familiarity with the rules of cricket, as many Ghanaians are not well-versed in the sport.

But, in keeping with his drive to spread his love of cricket to children, he plans to organise for various schools and communities to attend Ghana's matches at the Achimota Cricket Oval during the African Games.

He didn't, he said, "want to miss the opportunity of introducing cricket to more children in Ghana.

"Together with players from the other African countries, we will organise cricket lessons for the students on our free day during the tournament," Samson said.