Greensprings School Lekki campus has partnered Southampton Football Club in England to establish a football academy in the country.
According to the school management, the initiative is part of its continuous contribution towards football development in Nigeria.
The academy is aimed at complementing the school’s annual football camp, which recently produced two players that featured in the Golden Eaglets squad that won the 2022 WAFU B U-17 Championship, the management said.
Mrs Jennifer Sunkanmi-Qazzeem, Principal of the Wider Curriculum of the school, explained the rationale behind the introduction of the football academy and stated that it is in line with the school’s theme and objectives for the 2022-2023 academic year.
She remarked, “Our Lekki campus has always been known for sports because of our numerous sports facilities, and at the beginning of this school year, the campus was designated as the Centre of Excellence in Sports.”
In line with that, we collaborated with Team Nigeria International, which is the international academy partner for Southampton FC. This gave birth to the Greensprings/Southampton FC Football Academy (GSSFA), which officially kicked off on Monday, November 7th.
Concerning the modality of the academy, Sunkanmi-Qazzeem said students attend three (3) training sessions per week after school hours, and they also participate in the FUTSTAR League, which allows them to be scouted by football clubs abroad.
“Coaches at GSSFA are groomed the ‘Southampton Way,’ and they provide top-class training that would enable our students to improve their technical and tactical football skills.
“In addition to that, they will carry out customised player evaluations aimed at helping our students identify career pathways in sports and allied industries.
The football academy entails three (3) training sessions per week, a coach-to-student ratio of 1:10, and participation in the FUTSTAR League, which gives them the opportunity to be scouted abroad.
“More importantly, the football academy provides a sports education curriculum that supports students’ academic pursuits and excellence, and for this reason, training takes place after school hours,” she said.
GSSFA is currently only open to students of Greensprings School. The school was established in 1985, and it has three (3) campuses in Lagos: Anthony, Lekki, and Ikoyi.
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About the author
Akeem Alao
Akeem Alao trained as a language teacher. He graduated from Adeniran Ogunsanya college of Education where he studied English/Yoruba Languages and Ekiti State University where he obtained a degree in English Education.
