TACOMA, Wash – Halfway around the world the national women's soccer team in Ghana is training for the upcoming Pan African games. Former Logger Serwaah Fordjour will join them in Ghana in the upcoming weeks as a hopeful addition to the team.
"I'm excited to get this opportunity, and I'm looking forward to playing with some great players that I've met before," said Forjour.
Fordjour's father is a native of Ghana and has kept Ghana's coaches informed of her progress in the dominant Logger women's soccer program. Previously, Fordjour tried out for Ghana's Under-20 team.
According to Fordjour, the Ghana Black Queens (the nickname of the national team) have been training since July 1 and they will continue well into August. She will be expected to jump right into camp with the nation's top soccer players.
As a Logger Fordjour was key to the Loggers dominance in the Northwest Conference over the past four years. Last season, she ended her career as the NWC's Defensive Player of the Year.
She was a four-year starter as a defender for the Loggers as they compiled an astonishing 74-8-3 overall record and 59-3-2 NWC record over those four years. Last season Fordjour led a defense that conceded just 15 goals and posted 12 shutouts in 21 matches.
After helping the Loggers run their streak of NWC Championships to nine, Fordjour will face a new challenge at the next level of international soccer. When she joins the Black Queens camp, she'll join the team in fitness training and technical drills.
"At the camp, they are not only trying to pick a team, but they are also training for upcoming tournaments," added Fordjour.
The first tournament that the Black Queens will participate in is the Pan African games in Mozambique (on the southeastern coast of Africa). If she makes the team in the upcoming month, Fordjour will continue to train with the team before the games begin on September 3.
If she makes the team, Logger fans may be able to spot the All-NWC defender in the upcoming 2012 Olympics or at the next FIFA Women's World Cup in 2015.