Kwame Amankwah has been playing soccer for eleven years. “I play soccer because it’s fun and challenging,” says Amankwah.

Amankwah is a sophomore at Freedom High School and manages his school schedule around his soccer career. He was born on June 24, 2000 in Calgary, Canada. At the age of 11, he moved to Florida from Calgary. He plays for Tampa Bay United Soccer Club and The Freedom High School Soccer team.

When asked about his plans with soccer, Amankwah said “I’m not sure, but if the opportunity comes for professional or college, I’ll take it.”

Amankwah plays on the Tampa Bay United under sixteen elite team. He doesn’t really like his club team because “they are terrible” and he feels that “club is kind of useless, unless you play at a higher level.” He gets aggravated a lot on the field as well because “his team doesn’t play well at all and they give up too easily.”

Club soccer is one of the most played sports in America and it is still rising. Amankwah wanted to give a tip to anyone who wanted to try out for a club team. He said “In tryouts you want to try your hardest and get noticed by the coach. Be selfish with the ball, keep it, show them your skill or else you’ll be forgotten. Also don’t give up too easily, keep fighting. Coaches hate it when players give up or don’t show any effort to play.”

“High school soccer is very realistic,” says Amankwah, “you have to earn your place on the starting team. If you don’t do well you don’t play. You do well, you play.”

Amankwah didn’t always get to play on his high school team, “Even then though I didn’t play all the time, it didn’t discourage me. It fueled me to play harder in practice to prove to my coach that I’m worth playing. There are better players than me on the team and I also was a freshman at the time and freshman normally don’t get any playing time but that didn’t stop me from trying.”

“Club and high school soccer teams are the best ways to get noticed for colleges, academy teams, even professional teams. Nowadays coaches are looking for young talent to include on their team. They look for the future of their club,” said Amankwah. “If you think you have a shot at pro and want to join a team, do it. You never know if you will get picked up for your talent.”

Amankwah play at a striker or forward position for both teams. A striker is the attacking player and is usually the one who scores the most goals.

“My favorite moment playing the sport has to be when I scored in the high school district finals against the defending champs, Wiregrass. It was a great moment for me.” Amankwah said.

TBU under sixteen premier coach Kareem Escayg, said, “Kwame is a great forward, he plays the position well. He knows how to keep the ball, he has great dribbling skills, and always knows where to be. The only thing he needs is more commitment to the sport, then he will be a great player.”

Many coaches talk great of Amankwah and say the only thing he needs more of is commitment. Amankwah is a great player to play alongside as he is determined to do well, and pushes his team to do well as well.