Former Super Eagles forward, Mutiu Adepoju and other panel members that included a Special Assistant to the Nigerian Minister of Sports on Social Media, Toyin Ibitoye were all smiles as they became impressed with the turn-out of talented school kids, both boys and girls as the Lanreleke Sports Academy recruitment team continue its talent hunt programme across Nigeria.
The young upcoming athletes, all of whom are in different schools across Benin-city, stormed the University of Benin Sports Complex with the hope of being picked for a three-year scholarship into the Lanreleke Sports Academy, Ile Ogbo, in Osun state and they were all allowed to participate in the screening which covered sporting areas like football, basketball and athletics amongst other sports.
“This is a good platform and I would say you guys are lucky, because during our days we never had this, yet we worked hard to make it. This platform shows that something is coming and you must work hard to get it.”
“If you are picked, a big thing is sure to happen to you in the future because when you get there, you won’t come out of that place the same again. Thanks to Engineer Lanre Adeleke for this initiative which is not restricted to his home state alone, he thought of the state he lived in which is Delta State, Edo State, Lagos and Oyo states with other states of the country to be included in subsequent recruitment to make it national.”
“What I can only advise you now is, wherever you are, education is very important as well as sports and the two go hand-in-hand. It’s now left for you to be disciplined, discipline is very important, dedication is very important and determination is when you are doing whatever you are doing. Those three ideals were my watchwords when I was young and that was how I could achieve all I achieved. So with discipline, dedication and determination, hard work and everything, you will go places, Mutiu Adepoju, known in his days as the “headmaster”, admonished the kids before the commencement of the screening exercise.
In his own words, the Lanreleke Academy Administrative Head, Egbunu Chike, revealed that sports and education are core tenets at the LSA and the objective is to raise all-around athletes.
“Our target is to raise individuals who will be sound academically and also could aspire to become the best in whatever sports they will choose to do. This will be like a guinea pig and the school is starting new with students, forty in all, gathered from Delta, Lagos, Edo, Oyo and Osun states to be our mainstay and will be on full scholarship with their parents not paying a kobo.”
“We are picking those of you who are not more than 13 or 14 years old now so that by the time you have three years training with us, you won’t remain the same person that came into the school. That’s the platform we have set for you and we hope you will avail yourself of this opportunity.
The participants were made to go through a series of sporting drills through the supervision of ex-athletes and present-day coaches on the ground at the main bowl of the University of Benin Sports Complex.
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