An Indigene of Kogi State and a student of the Lagos State University, Okunrinmeta Samuel who adores former Super Eagles of Nigeria legendary midfielder, Sunday Oliseh is a strong-willed lad that is set to create a pathway for student-athletes who are finding it hard to navigate their way around education and sports but not without having to pay a price which he is ready to commit himself to.
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One of Samuel standout performers for his department in the just concluded Lagos State University Student’s Union (LASUSU) Fresher’s Cup, a competition for new intake (freshers) which is played out across all the Faculties in the school, the Insurance student of the Faculty of Management Sciences (FMS) took his team all the way to the final to clinch the trophy in style while also demonstrating good leadership.
In an exclusive cover of Grassroots Sports Matter (GSM), an initiative of Sports247.ng, Nigeria’s first dedicated grassroots sports platform with more focus on national and Africa respectively as it pertains to sportsmen, women, events, and administration, Samuel gave extensive insight into his life, parental support, and funding while also advocating for a redefined student-athlete grading system.
Introducing himself to the readers;
My name is OKUNRINMETA Samuel, an indigene of Kogi State, a student of Lagos State University, and a footballer.
A quick review of the LASUSU Tourney;
It is the Lagos State University Student’s Union (LASUSU) Fresher’s Cup, a competition for new intake (freshers) that is played out across all the Faculties in the school.
Preparations involved;
When the tournament was to start, every student that was interested was to meet for training, and from there we went on to play our first game.
FMS’ Progress;
Our first match was against the Faculty of Law; we won 3:0. In this game against the Faculty of Law, I provided 2 assists to our attacker (he scored three goals in the game). We qualified for the next stage which was the semi-finals and played against the Faculty of Science, I recorded an assist against them which was the opening goal and we went on to win them 2:1 and it’s straight to the finals for us (FMS).
Ultimate final showdown;
In the finals, we played against a very good Faculty of Arts team that scored a beautiful header after a series of goal-scoring attempts in the first 20 minutes of the game to take the lead and open the score chart. We went on and on, chance after chance, shots after shots, and the center referee signaled the end of the first half.
We came back to the field again to resume the game in the second half and started playing. We had clear-cut chances but we couldn’t take them so as the opponent but neither team could get the ball beyond the goalkeeper.
Crucial historic moment;
Dying moments came, this time the referee already signaled to us his linesmen that there were only 5minutes more( I knew this because I made sure to know everything that was happening around me on the field) then we had a free kick at the edge of their 18yard box.
I went there, collected the ball from my winger (Lawiz), and assured Taiwo (LB) and (Malik) who were all beside me that this was going to be a goal.
The referee blew his whistle and I took the free kick and it was a goal. I was celebrating the goal immediately after I took the kick because I knew it was going to score.
Guess what my celebration was, yes you guessed right. I did the Ororo’s SIUUUUUUUUU ( all smiles and laughter)
It was a magical moment for me and my teammates, we were all happy, most especially the fans, I remembered they all came down from the stands to celebrate with me.
Exemplary leadership during the Penalty Shootout;
A few minutes after, the referee ended the game and we went to a penalty shootout.
Now I was high on CONFIDENCE (confidence). I took the first kick and scored, Faculty of Arts missed, we took our own and missed, Faculty of Arts missed again, we took our own and missed (at this moment OMO), Faculty of Arts took theirs and missed, we took again but this time we scored which is now 2:0, Arts took again and scored.
Malik’s legendary status is sealed;
Then our last kick came from Malik (Malik had lost his mum 2days before the final, we got to know about this a day before the final on the training ground), Malik scored and the shootout ended at 3:1 in favor of Faculty of Management Sciences (my Faculty!!!). We were crowned champions in our first-ever tournament in the school.
On his ambitions;
I want to one day play professional football, I play as a central attacking midfielder and can also operate both flanks, but majorly I am a central attacking midfielder. I am skillful, intelligent, eyes for goals. I know playing professional football is not achieved by merely talking about it, I’m ready to give it my all and ready for whatever it takes.
Role Models;
In Nigeria, I take Sunday Oliseh as a role model. I actually didn’t watch him play football live but I’ve taken my time to watch his videos on YouTube and I feel like he could’ve done more if he was less injured. I like him, I like what he’s doing presently even after retirement.
In Europe, my role model is the Super Luka Modric!!! I thank God for him. I’ve been watching Modric playing, I’ve seen him win a lot of trophies for Madrid, I see what he’s doing with Croatia, and I off my cap for him, Samuel said.
Challenges;
It’s been very tough, I think the first challenge all grassroots players have is a pair of good soccer boots, to get a good boot in the market is no child’s play.
Combining Education with football;
(sighs), Well, this in particular has been very hard for me but it’s what I’ve signed up for and so, I’m ready for whatever price it comes with. Sometimes, we will have a match and class at the same time, and some other times it’s training. I thank God, I’ve been combining it.
Student-athlete grading;
I want to use this medium to tell the people in our educational sector to not use the same grade scale for student-athletes and normal students.
Normally, our primary objective in school is to study and graduate with good grades, but some of us have this PASSION for other things, mine is Football. Now, a normal student will finish class and head home to read or whatever but I as a student-athlete at times will finish class, and go to the field to train before heading home, remember I’m training for a tournament the school organized by itself.
To train alone is enough work on its own and now I’m not only training, I also have classes that I must not miss.
So, I think schools should look into this and not grade us the same way. For example, the day we played the final, I had GNS101 that same day at the same time. While we were preparing, my mind was on the class I was about to miss, but I thank God the class didn’t later hold, Samuel said.
So far, I’ve not missed any classes, I’ve always created that extra time for it but I’m sure that very soon, the time will come that I’ll have to choose whether to go for a class or go to the pitch and I’m sure you know my answer already, (laughs).
Basically, what I’m saying is student-athletes should be given special consideration when grading compared to other students because presenting the school or faculty and still preparing for exams or test is hectic.
A good run of exclusive discussion with Okunrinmeta Samuel, the reigning LASUSU champion in a detailed discovery into his life and all we need to know about as he made use of the opportunity to urge his fellow student-athlete to keep at it, to keep doing what they’ve been doing. God will help us all. Amen.
