BY SUNDAY AKINTOYE
No fewer than 16 teams that have football pedigree in Agege and its environs are expected to take part in the inaugural edition of Agege Football Coaches Council Football Competition tagged ‘Coaches Challenge Cup’.
The competition is put together by Agege Football Coaches Council under the leadership of Ajayi Olumide Adedapo.
The competition would officially kick off on March 1, 2024 at the Oniwaya High School , Agege, Lagos.
The official match would be played between Agege United and Youthful Talent 99 Football Academy by 3pm.
At the draw ceremony conducted recently by the executive members of Agege Football Coaches Council, four teams were divided in four groups as two teams in each group would qualify for the quarter final.
Group A consist Power Rangers football academy,De-Royal Academy,Legacy Football Academy and Fakson FA. Group B made up of Victory Future Stars FA,Dynamite FC,Little United FA and Future Hero.
Group C comprises of Ultimate Stars, Young Boys D,Shuffle Select FA and Midas FA, while Group D are made up of Agege United,Youthful Talent 99 FA,Alim City and FC Wesco.
Speaking at the draw ceremony, Leader of Agege Football Coaches Council, Adedapo expressed satisfaction with the successful draws and thanked the members of the organising committee for the job well done.
Commenting on the competition, Adedapo said the purpose of organising the competition is to give the young players a platform to develop themselves and insisted that no professional players from NNL and premier league side would be allowed to participate.
Corroborating Adedapo views, Abiodun Akinwusi said the organisers would not condone any act of indiscipline among the participating teams and urged them to abide by the rules governing the game.
While former Coach of Crown FC, Seyi Abidemi who is a member of the organising committee admonished the coaches not to see the competition as a do or die affairs and advised them to shun winning at cost syndrome during the tournament.
“My advice for the coaches is that they should not see this competition a do or die affairs rather they should see it as a developmental competition where they can develop, nurture and tutor their players.
“Problems occur in a competition like this when the coaches and club owners see a competition as a do or die affairs because of money attach to it.Let erase such winning mentality and focus on how we can develop our players during this competition and I wish all the teams best of luck in their outings, ” he said.
Meanwhile coaches, club owners, players and other football stakeholders who attended the draw ceremony expressed satisfaction with the draw ceremony and advice dished out by the organisers. They all promised to abide by the rules governing the game throughout the tournament.
