While fans and followers of Beyond Limit FA of Ikenne are still relishing the club’s conquest of the lower cadre Nigerian National League (NNL), coach of the side, Olumide Ajibolade has surprisingly declared that there are other things he considers more important than the winners’ trophy.
A 4-3 win via penalties, after 2-2 at regulation time, versus Nasarawa United of Lafia on Thursday at Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu meant Beyond Limit added the NNL champions’ trophy to their Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) promotion ticket.
However, rather than dwell on all accolades flooding his way and flaunt the celebration galore across their base in Ogun State, Ajibolade stressed that his focus remains on what happens next to his players.
He stated at length that the quest for trophies by most clubs and their supporters dispels the main target of developing young players and seeing them move unto higher ground within a few years.
Ajibolade expanded his view and stressed: “Four-over-four trophy rating is not important to me, because your team can win all the trophies yet get rusty in two years. Let’s not talk only about the trophy. What about the players?
“For example, in this final, I started a player who is not yet 16 (real age). A really young lad playing in a final! That’s the most important thing. That’s my trophy for today.
“That he played 45 minutes and was able to compete against a club like Nasarawa United makes me glad.
“He was fearless and made his mark. That’s fantastic. That’s the most important thing.
“If we keep looking only at the trophy, we lose sight of the most important thing.
“The question should be: these players that are here today, where will they be in three years’ time? If they make progress, good, if they don’t, then we have failed.
“A trophy will go back to the organisers, but where will these players be?
“Mark their faces, come back in four years, and then tell me if I was successful or not.
“For today, it’s just a match. Beyond that, what targets do we set? Have the players improved? This season, Kparobo has 42 goals.
“Last season, he had seven goals, and this season 42, absolutely good. That’s improvement, and that’s a trophy for me.
“Shina has 16 goals; that’s a trophy for me. Look at the amount of clean sheets. Look at the numbers.
“Look at how they have bloomed as people, as players. That’s the most important thing for us. Once we can take that, every other thing doesn’t matter. We have achieved our goals.”
