The football academy is based in Epe, Lagos, and designed for players between 15 and 17 years
Pius Ayinor
The dream was laid two years ago, but on Friday, November 6, the new football academy launched in the Surulere area of Lagos. Saga Legacy Football Academy is the latest in the numerous football academies across Nigeria, but it is a brand with the utmost plan to raise young footballers with the quality that the country has always been known for.
Saga Legacy Academy prides itself on grooming players who can easily be identified by their skill, education, and discipline.
Saga Legacy Football Academy is based in Epe and designed for players between the ages of 15 and 17.
The barely two-hour launch ceremony for Saga Legacy Football Academy held at the Eagles Club, Surulere, Lagos, gave the Chairman and President of the academy, Mojeed Adegbindin (popularly nicknamed Eshin) the opportunity to separate it from the crowd.
Mojeed who has been the game of football for over 30 years as a player, agent and an administrator said that SLFA was designed to train players in the right in the manner and in the right environment. The football official, who narrated the long periods he spent studying the good academies around town and elsewhere, said the youngsters would be rightly educated and mentally prepared to make them easily adaptable to any other football environment, especially in Europe.
He said, ”This journey started two years ago, but we are finally here. I have been in football for so long, and we have been learning from many other academies over the period. The idea here is to properly groom the players, using the right football philosophy as well as education to prepare them for the future ahead.
”Most importantly, we want to allay the fears of parents who may think that if their children play for us, they will have to abandon their education. They will continue their education while developing their football careers. And this is the reason we set up in Epe, as the area has the fastest-growing sports and education environment.”
Adegbindin told the selected gathering that the academy’s utmost desire is to develop a quality football culture built on technical proficiency and discipline. This plan has largely influenced their choice of coaching personnel and technical partners at home and abroad..
A former Chairman of the Lagos State Sports Commission and also a former vice chairman of the Lagos State Football Association, Dr Kweku Tandoh, went down to the early beginnings of Mojeed, who worked tirelessly with the Lagos football system.
“I know that you have moved around and studied the good academies. I advise that you put to good use your knowledge and exposure in grooming these players. Many of these new players don’t have the kind of natural build and football culture that many of these retired players and ex-internationals seated here have. These days young players are in a hurry to travel out to just any league and any country without any football culture. This is what you must correct,” Tandoh, who was the first speaker on the day, said,
Mojeed thanked his business partner, Paul Kallsen, who is also the chairman of Spinto AB. Reidar Vagnes, a veteran football coach and instructor who is credited with running 47 UEFA PRO courses, will help train coaches to align with the style the academy desires. The 77 years old Vagners who is a former coach at Molde, Ålesund, and the Norwegian National youth teams was deeply involved in the screening and recruitment process used to select the academy’s coaching staff.
Some of the personalities at the event include former Nigeria internationals Victor Agali, Friday Ekpo, Godwin Okpara, and Wasiu Ipaye.
