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FROM: PAUL ORUDE, BAUCHI A non-governmental organisation, Senathan Ventures, is to sponsor 27 talented local footballers from Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State to become professional players. Chairman of the group, Solomon Bukata Solomon, disclosed this to newsmen during the maiden edition of the Senathan Youth Football competition held at Tafawa Balewa. Bukata said that his organisation, in collaboration with FIFA-licensed agents, would assist grassroots youths in the north to develop into professionals that will use their God-given talents to bring honour and development to their country. He said: “I see that we have a lot of talents in the north but they don’t have opportunities to play in the national team and outside the country. “For example, in our recent World Cup qualifying match with Cameroon, there was no single northern footballer in the first 11 that started the match, and that was another factor that prompted this competition. “We want to make sure that those selected are properly groomed to play in bigger leagues both home and abroad. “It is capital intensive but we will try our best to support their careers to succeed and it is our hope that they will someday play in the country’s shirts or in well-established leagues in Europe and other places” Solomon, therefore, called on the Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and other prominent northern leaders to enact policies and laws to develop the abundant human resources of the country. He continued, “When people are in poverty, our leaders have not done anything. “I call on Dogara and Saraki and other prominent people from the north to invest in football. Find out these talents and develop them to make sure that they contribute their part to development” Solomon, who was once a footballer, regretted that many footballers have wasted their talents because there was no support and advised those who want to take to sports to work hard and continue to train and retrain to achieve their goal and never to give up. “We have discovered 27 players, those that can play in the U-17, in the U-20 and in our professional leagues. We will try to develop them and see how we can make them excel” He said they are coming up with a talent hunt exhibition in December which will give room for people from the area to showcase their talents adding, “we will see how we can help and support them both male and female. The talent exhibition is for you to come and show what you can do music, dance A FIFA licensed agent, Yusuf Garba, who attended the event, regretted that although there is abundant talent from the grassroots, there is hardly any support to discover and nurture them. “I will advise politician to invest their money on these youths by organising programmes that will discover their talents,” he said. He commended Senathan for giving room for players to get a source of livelihood saying the gesture would assist them in reaching their goals and to cater for themselves and their families. Garba said one of the challenges that make aspiring players to fail trials for big clubs is due to the techniques of the football, coaches advising coaches to learn the techniques to spot talented players. “My advice to the players that have been selected is for them to develop the techniques of the game. They must also avoid social vices because this can derail them. They should be focused,” he said. |