Sports
Remo Stars Coach Attributes Success To Good Facilities
Remo Stars’ Head Coach, Olawale Olowookere, who, at the weekend, guided his team to victory in the 2022 MTN/NPFL/La Liga U-15 Championship, has attributed his success to the quality facility the players enjoyed in the competition held in Ikenne, Ogun State.
Remo Stars U-15 team defeated Shooting Stars of Ibadan 2-0 in the final watched by a capacity crowd under floodlight at Remo Stars Stadium, Ikenne.
A brace from tournament’s top scorer, Arierhi Kparobo, gave Remo Stars U-15 team the trophy to end an exciting display of football artistry from young players, who came from across the country. Kparobo scored five goals in the competition.
Speaking with The Tidesports source, Olowookere said the quality of facilities at their disposal at ‘Beyond Limit Academy’ in Ikenne, which is run by the proprietor of Remo Stars, Kunle Soname, played a huge role in the victory.
“I thank God for this victory. I commend my players for their commitment, resilience and dedication throughout this competition. But beyond what happened on the football pitch, the support we got from our proprietor and the quality of facilities we enjoyed here contributed to the success. I thank everyone, including the backroom staff, groundsmen and curators for the success,” Olowookere said.
On his part, Kunle Soname, who is the proprietor of Remo Stars, one of the clubs playing in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), stated that the success recorded at the tournament has laid the foundation for the career of the young players.
“This is part of efforts to have a sustainable structure in our football. Now that we are getting it right at the U-15 level, I am sure a solid foundation is being laid for our U-17 team, the Flying Eagles and the senior national team.”
“I have said it, there is the need to address this issue of today we succeed, tomorrow we fail. I commend all the players and coaches, who took part in this competition,” Soname said.
The Second Vice President of the NFF, Shehu Dikko, who is the Chairman of the League Management Company (LMC) responsible for the management of the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL), told The Tidesports source that players discovered at the tournament would be monitored and nurtured to become the next generation of national team players.
“If you want a sustained success, you have to build the foundation for it. This MTN/NPFL/La Liga U-15 tournament is to discover the young stars that will graduate into the U-17 team. I am happy we discovered a lot of them here. The duty of the NFF now is to ensure these boys are well monitored for them to become the Okochas, Kanus and Musas of tomorrow,” Dikko stated.
The Senior Manager, Sponsorship and Promotions at MTN Nigeria, Osaze Ebueku, also spoke at the end of the tournament on Sunday. He said: “I am so proud of this excellent display of football by our youths. The partnership between MTN, NPFL and La Liga at the youth level is paying off in a big way for Nigerian football. As a sponsor, MTN will continue to play its role in ensuring that talented Nigerian footballers are given a good foundation for their career to flourish”
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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