Grassroots Football System Has Failed In Nigeria – Coach

The Head coach of New Creation Ambassador Church FC of Port Harcourt, Marius Okechukwu, has said that the development and system to catch players young in the football have failed in Nigeria.
According to him, in the 80s there were a lot of systems and developmental programmes to fish out young talents in the round leather game, adding that today you hardly see private individuals and companies sponsoring football competitions, particularly in Port Harcourt.
Okechukwu, who is popularly called Coach Maco said this early in the week in a chat with Tidesports in Port Harcourt.
He explained that a lot of young talents that were discovered in those days were from different football competitions, the likes of Youths Sports Federation Of Nigeria ( YSFON), Shell Cup and School Sports tournaments, adding that today those competitions are nowhere to be seen.
He pointed out that when those tournaments were ongoing, one hardly saw the youths engaging themselves in social vices in the society, saying that the system and development had failed.
“ Those days, competitions were used to discover talent.
‘Today we are no longer seeing those activities in the round leather game.
‘It gives room to our youth moving on the streets because of lack of activities that would engage them,” Okechukwu said.
He used the medium to call on government, companies, corporate bodies to invest in the youth by giving them meaningful assistance through organising football competitions at the grassroots.
‘I am begging them because our football system today is nothing to write home about.
‘ If going back to those days for development of the game would be recreated, the rate of youth involvement in crime in the society would reduce drastically.

By: Kiadum Edookor