BY SUNDAY AKINTOYE
A newly established club, Saga Legacy Football Academy was unveiled and launched on Friday at the Eagles Club, Surulere, Lagos.
The academy was founded by Mojeed Adegbindin, while a Norwegian FIFA licensed agent, Paul Kallsen is co- founder.
Presently, the academy is based and camped in Epe, Lagos.It has more than 20 players within the ages of 15 to 17 in camp.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony of the academy, Adegbindin said the idea of setting up the academy was conceived two years ago with his Norwegian partners.
Adegbindin went ahead to say he visited Beyond Limit and other well organised academy several times in Nigeria to have first hand information how the academy is properly formed and organised.
A Lagos based football administrator disclosed that while he was planning to establish a football academy,he coinsidered the education of the players as priority boasting that any player that wants to come to his academy would be encouraged to go to school courtesy of Saga Legacy FA.
“We are running this academy the way is being run all over the world. In Saga Legacy FA, we are taking education of our players seriously and we have a Norwegian technical director,Reidar Vagnes who would teach our backroom staff on how the club would be playing and other aspects of coaching.
” However,if we found out that we have players who are still in the school, we would support such players education which is part of our responsibility as club management, ” he said.
Former board member of Lagos State Football Association said Saga Legacy FA would focus more on player’s development and training the trainers and ensure that the players play to club formation and coaching instructions during a training sessions.
Adegbindin revealed that his expectations is to see one or two players in the academy being marketed to the European clubs in the next six months and urged the coaching crew and management staff to give their best and commitment to the academy activities.
Speaking in the same vein, Kallsen who is co-founder expressed his satisfaction with the official launching of the academy noted that the academy was established to market good players to the clubs in Europe and other part of the world.
While a Technical Director of the Academy, Reidar Vagnes admitted that his first primary assignment in the academy was to train the coaching crew and train the players through the coaching.
He said the club must have coaching philosophy and formation which would really help the coaching crew and players during a match or future high profile scouting football programmes within and outside the state.
Meanwhile, Japhet Daniel was officially unveiled as Head Coach, Leke Solomon was also unveiled as Assistant Coach, while Uche Akubuike MON was also unveiled as Goalkeeper trainer.