Sports
Edo To Support Education Of Insurance FC Feeder Team’s Players
Edo State Government will always support the aspirations of young footballers in the state, especially in the area of their education, the state’s Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, said yesterday in Benin.
Shaibu, who said this when he received the Bendel Insurance FC Feeder Team, said an example of this was the reward of scholarship awards to members of the state’s under-17 football team.
The Under-17 team had emerged winners of the 2020 Stephen Keshi National Under-17 Football Championship held in Benin.
Shaibu, who charged the Insurance FC Feeder Team players to remain focused and disciplined, said the state government would grant scholarship award to any of them ready to realise their academic dreams.
“The state under-17 players are worthy ambassadors who have brought honour to their parents and the state. So, the reward is rewarding, and we are ready to do this for others too,” he said.
The deputy governor expressed satisfaction that the Insurance FC project which started with the club’s rebranding by the present administration a few years ago, saying it had started yielding dividends.
“I am happy that we have started seeing results from the sports rebranding, including that of Insurance FC, which we embarked upon just a few years ago.
“I am confident that within four years from now, the main Insurance FC would be populated by home-grown football stars.
“I see this team as the real future of Bendel Insurance FC and I am proud of you.
“We will discuss how to assist you to combine education with football because we care about your future,” he said.
Head coach of the victorious team, Osazee Stanley, thanked Shaibu and the Insurance FC management for giving him the opportunity to serve.
“We give thanks to God for the victory and we remain grateful to the deputy governor and management of Bendel Insurance FC for giving me the opportunity to serve.
“I am happy we won the championship in our first appearance. The players we parade today are the same kids we took from the grassroots that made major impact at the 2019 NPFL/LaLigaUnder-15 Championship and they have now graduated to Under-17.
“It is important we say that we won all our games in the championship, including individual awards of best coach and best goalkeeper.
“The good thing is that the team is designed to feel the gap in the main team and we
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor