The maiden edition of the annual 3-day football scouting programme organized by TopPro Sports management company came to a conclusion Friday, at the Digital Bridge Institute, mini stadium, Oshodi, Lagos.
The tournament that featured 28 teams from across the country, was witnessed by top football scouts like Spaniard Camilo Garcia Lopez, UK based Jesse Barrison-Lawson and former ABS and Sunshine Stars coach, Salihu Yusuf, had the officials of the participating teams drooling excitedly over the near-perfect organization of the tournament.
Speaking with journalists during the event, the President of Danjuma Babes FC, Alhaji Auwal Muhammed Danjuma, described it as one of the best-organized grassroots football scouting tournaments he has attended in recent times. He applauded the professionalism and transparency of the organizers.
Garba Adamu, the proprietor of Kaduna based Northern Warriors, thanked the organizers for providing grassroots teams with the opportunity to participate in the scouting tournament and of course, provide the lads with the platform to be discovered and exposed to local and international football.
Fifteen starry-eyed lads were discovered amongst the hundreds that participated in the tournament. And with 16 years old Akanni Adedayo of China Sun Stars FC, claiming the MVP awards, as well as, the cash prize of twenty thousand naira.
In a similar vein, the Chairman, TopPro Sports Management, Ayodele Thomas expressed his feelings. He went on disclosing he never believed the event whose maiden edition begins with 28 grassroots teams across the nation will end successfully.
“It was a dream come true. For me we started this on a small note and we ended up finding ourselves where we are. Although this is just the beginning of great things to come and I’m sure the next edition will supersede the maiden edition in all ramifications,” he vowed.
