matter what they dream of in life, so long as they work hard and believe in themselves and get the support with the requisite coaching and mentoring they can achieve their dreams. This will be great for Ghana because they are no longer just going to be watching the Summer Olympics. Every two years they will have a Ghanaian at the Olympics be it the Winter or the Summer Olympics that they will be able to watch and be proud of.
ASM: Great answer Akwasi. Now I will like to shift gears and ask you that outside of your motivation to help impact the next generation, what are your individual passions in life?
Akwasi Frimpong: You know the thing that drives me? … and I think it’s different for everybody else … For me it has been at different stages in my life.
Obviously being a onetime illegal immigrant and really going through a tough and hard life, I have always wanted to prove to myself and the rest of the world that I am as hardworking and focused a person who just needs a chance at life to prove that I can be as successful as anyone else.
Another thing that drives me a lot is my family. My little daughter is a driving force for me and the reason I say that it is because I always said to myself; what kind of dad would I be if look into my daughter’s eyes when she’s a little bit older when she says … “Hey dad I have this goal/dream, but I don’t think it’s possible, I don’t think I can do it”, what kind of dad would I be if I cannot lift her confidence up to help and push her to pursue her dreams. Whatever happens or doesn’t happen at least I know that I gave a 110% so that I can tell my daughter that anything is possible to achieve your goals and dreams no matter what. That’s a huge driving force for me. My family is a huge passion for me.
Finally, there is my country of Ghana. The fact is that there’s so much misconception about Africa in general and I just want to show the rest of the world that there is so much goodness and so much talent in Ghana and in all of Africa and things are not as they are usually portrayed. Those are all driving forces and passions for me.
ASM: That’s awesome. Now tell us a bit about your participation in this sport so far since you started till now and how well you have fared on.
Akwasi Frimpong: Absolutely; It takes about 4 to 6 years to learn to be a good driver, that’s what we call being a good pilot. I was already being noticed by a lot of coaches who were telling me that, even though it was my first-year, (2016) I was showing a lot of potential, and they felt like I was doing things that most people did not do until their second or third year. So, hearing things like that from coaches in the USA, Italy, and Canada was a very positive thing for me.
I’m not going to be a gold medalist in the next upcoming Olympics neither am I going to be the number one anytime soon and I’m realistic about that, but I do know that I have the potential.
In my preseason I did really well before the season started. I started training with the U.S. team and they have been helping me so far. They have, you would say adopted me to help me with coaching, which has been superb. When a country like the USA., takes on a kid from Ghana they’re not doing it to embarrass