Curtis Manieson[/caption] Much may not be known yet of Curtis Manieson, a young Ghanaian footballer based in Canada, but from his impressive journey so far, it is clear he has the makings of a great soccer star. The 23-year old is currently in Humber College, where he also plays football.   He is a striker/forwarder who plays for Meteors FC, a second division team in the Ghanaian-Canadian Soccer League (GSCL). Curtis grew up in Labadi, Accra, where he completed high school at Firm Foundation. He started his footballing career, playing Flamingo FC in Labadi (Cones), a team for Under-10 and Under-12. He later got signed to Shalker FC, also in Labadi to play under 14. [caption id="attachment_116894" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Curtis Manieson and teammates[/caption] At Shalker FC, Curtis got the chance to justify himself at Feyenoord FC (in Gomoah Feteh). Sadly things didn’t go on well so he returned to Shalker’s third division team. He then left Ghana to join his mom in Canada in 2014, where he soon joined Meteors FC. Curtis helped the team to win its first league cup as well as playoffs cup. In 2015 he and his teammates repeated the same feat for Meteors FC. He later signed a loan contract to Presby FC, with the hopes of helping the team to also win the cup, last year. The team ended at third position on the league table but Curtis was rated the Best Young Player in the league. Curtis then went back to Meteors FC and once again the team won the playoffs, although they couldn’t win the league. Curtis was awarded the Best Striker in the league with 20 goals to his credit, and also the 2017 playoff MVP. Curtis, who hope to play football to his fullest potential said so far, “my highlight will be the last game against Shatta FC , where a very last minute goal won us the playoff cup, just when everyone had written us off.”             According to him, Canada is much like Ghana but the only challenge he faces is schooling and playing soccer at the same time. Curtis added that Canada is a country whereby its hard to get a team to play, which makes every soccer player there to work and train hard. His long-term goal is to play for his country Ghana and his dream club, Real Madrid:  “It has been my dream to play for the Black Stars and help make the team greater than it is now. I remember back in school in Ghana, I tell my friends I will one day go with the team and bring both the World Cup and African Cup to Ghana. It’s every soccer player’s goal to win a cup for the country or team he finds himself playing for. I’m training and working hard and I know at the right time the GFA or the coach for the national team will find me.”                                        He added that there are a lot of talents in Ghana yet to be discovered by the Ghana Football Association and gave some advice on how to improve on football in Ghana: “I think it has to start from the Ghanaian premier league, because that is the foundation of Ghana soccer. You can’t start a building without its foundation so I think the GFA has to invest more into the GPL. With that, it can get good talented players who are reliable and will be committed and play their heart out for the country. Also they should keep looking outside Ghana for players like me and the rest outside the country.”  ]]>