Nigeria National team captain, John
Obi Mikel, has begun a talent hunt series. The talent hunt series dubbed
“Africa’s Next Football Superstar” seeks to discover young talent so that it
can be properly nurtured.
The series will be held in three African
nations- Nigeria, South Africa, and Algeria
Kids between the ages of 13 and 16
will be eligible for the series. Five winners will be selected from each of the
three countries. They will be tested and narrowed down to nine.
The nine young lads will have the
privilege of going on an all-expenses-paid trip to the UK. They will get trials
with top English clubs for a period spanning two weeks, with a chance to bag a
one-year contract with the club’s youth team.
The trials in Nigeria will be held
in Lagos on March 15th 2019, Port Harcourt on 18th, and Abuja on 20th. The
finals are scheduled for May 2-9 2019.
There is a lot of raw talent in
Africa that needs to be nurtured well. Initiatives like these aimed at tapping
into young talent will make African nations football powerhouses in the few
years to come. The lack of proper training resources and systems is always a
major hindrance to budding talent.
The talent hunt will be an annual
series. It will give a chance to talented young people to launch their football
career. Such chances are always difficult to come by for African youth.
John Obi Mikel has played on the
world’s grandest soccer platforms. Right now, he plays for Tianjin Teda in
China, as his blissful career nears to a close. He is certainly one of the most
decorated African footballers. Among his biggest achievements are winning the
UEFA Champions League with Chelsea in 2012, and winning the African Cup of
Nations with Nigeria in 2013.
Mikel has decided to give back to
his community by supporting young talent. The initiative is quite humble at the
moment, but it has the capacity to grow and transform the lives of young
Africans. There are certainly a lot of young Africans who look up to Mikel and
would love to get involved in such initiatives.
His involvement in bringing up young
talent in Africa can certainly yield amazing results.
Mikel’s experience in the football
world means he understands what it takes to discover and nurture talents. It is
great that he is using his influence to provide a platform for other young
players to get on to the world stage.
Nigerian government and football
federation officials have endorsed Mikel’s project and it is set to be a
successful one. The officials have offered their help and urged corporations to
get involved with the project, to ensure it is a success.
Former Lagos state Governor and
Minister of Power, Babatunde Fashola has applauded the project and asserted
that he will be part of it. He believes that young Africans deserves such
opportunities and much more.
There have been a lot of initiatives
for tapping into talent in the past but more are still needed. Every little
effort is important and counts for a lot. All stakeholders in African football
should get involved and support such initiatives aimed at securing the future
for our young talented lads.
It is a challenge to everyone in the
African football scene to do their little bit to improve the game and the
continent’s position in the football world. The series kicks off in March 2019
and it is certain that it is going to draw interest from across the world.
