Short Stories
The first marathon
In 490 BC there was a big war between the Persians and the Greeks. Persia was a huge empire, much bigger than Greece. It wanted to capture Athens. The Greek soldiers waited on top of the hill while the Persian army waited on the plain of Marathon below. There were 48,000 Persian soldiers and only 10,000 Greek soldiers. The Greeks sent a messenger, Pheidippides, to Sparta to get help. He ran for two days over the mountains to ask the Spartans.
But the Spartans would not fight until there was a full moon. Pheidippides returned to Marathon alone. The Greeks could not wait and attacked the Persian army. The Greeks ran towards the enemy. Persian arrows flew through the air. The Greeks won; 6,400 Persians were killed but only 192 Greeks died. The Persians ran to their ships and tried to escape. They tried to go to Athens to capture the Greek women, children and old people waiting there. Pheidippides now had another job.
He ran 40 kilometres to Athens to tell the Greeks that they had won and to tell them that the Persians were coming. He arrived at the city gates very tired. ‘Rejoice, we conquer!’ he shouted. Then he died.
From this great event, the first marathon race of the modern Olympic Games was run in 1896. It was won by a Greek runner, Spiridon Louis. And, like Pheidippides a long time before, he also carried messages. He was a postman.
Source: learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org
Short Stories
GFA to hold maiden U-15 Girls Inter-Regional Challenge Cup at Prampram
The Ghana Football Association (GFA) will hold the maiden edition of the U15 Girls Inter-Regional Challenge Cup at its technical centre in Prampram – the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence.
The Association earlier this month announced that it will be establishing four new age group national teams each for boys and girls to complement the existing ones.
These new national teams will be for developmental purposes to serve as feeder teams for the competitive national teams.
President of the GFA who doubles as Chairman of the National Juvenile Committee, Mr. Kurt. E.S. Okraku, announced that the U15 Girls Inter-Regional Challenge Cup will be held in June, 2024 at Prampram.
The competition will provide a platform for the national team coaches to identify top talents for further development and progression into the appropriate age group national teams.
The Football Association already has the KGL U17 Regional Championship for boys and the U15 Regional Challenge Cup for girls will be the first of its kind in the country.
The new national teams will have U-16, U-18, U-19 and U-21 for Boys and U-16, U-18, U-19, U-21, and U23 for Girls.
The Association is keen on transforming women’s football and making it competitive across all levels, which will have a positive impact on the National teams.
Players from each of the age groups will progress to the relevant next level year after year as they will camp, train and play games locally and Internationally as part of their development.
Short Stories
Fisherman and wife(Final Part)
The man trembled with fear at every joint. Outside there was a terrible storm. Trees and mountains were shaking. The heaven was completely black, and there was thunder and lightning. In the sea he could see black waves as high as mountains, and they were capped with white crowns of foam. He said:
Mandje! Mandje! Timpe Te!
Flounder, flounder, in the sea!
My wife, my wife Ilsebill,
Wants not, wants not, what I will.
“What does she want then,” said the flounder.
“Oh,” he said, “she wants to become like God.”
“Go home. She is sitting in her piss pot again.”
And they are sitting there even today.
