Ondo State Football Agency (ODSFA) has said it will train 72 Games Master across 18 Local Governments Areas of the state as parts of programmes to groom talents from their prime.
The coordinator, Mike Idoko, stated yesterday in Akure that plans were in place so that that the scheme, tagged “E-foot plus” which means education plus football should start in August and would be in partnership with the state’s Ministry of Education for the scheme to be successful.
Idoko said he had already met with the Commissioner for Education in the state and four Games Masters from each of the 18 Local Governments making a total of 72 Games Master that would be participating in the pilot scheme.
His words: “We will train some secondary schools’ Games Master in identified schools that is four in each of the 18 Local Governments in the state making 72 in total for the pilot scheme.
“They will in return train their students for us. It is our conviction that if the students are trained over a period of six years from JSS1 to SS 3 class. They would have been prepared for proper football if selected by scouts of the agency.
“This is part of our vision to revive school sports in Ondo state,” Idoko said.
The Coordinator of the Agency said the Agency was planning a league that would employ over 6000 youth’s across the state in weeks to come.
Idoko said that the league would be made up of 10 teams from the 18 Local Government, tolling 180 teams which means jobs would be created for about 6000 youths of Ondo State through Football, noting that every streets in the state will be represented in the league.
He added that the league would also be used to identify talents by coaches and scouts that were already on ground in the zones that the agency has it academy set up.
His words “We want every youth in the state t be engaged and that is the reason we will be creating this league with ten teams from the 18 local governments making 180 teams.
“About 6000 players will be involved in this league and plans are already set to make the event successful.
“Registration will commence in few weeks and our coaches will be on ground to scout for talents.”