A record number of 150 coaches have registered to participate in the National Institute of Sports (NIS) and Lagos State Football Association (LSFA) collaboration on the training of coaches in Lagoa State.
Speaking at the weekend on the program scheduled to commence at the National Institute for Sports headquarter in Lagos on Saturday, September 14, 2024, chairman of the Lagos State Football Association, Hajji Gafar Liameed, said the number of coaches that had registered for the first batch of training programme had surpassed the initial expectation of 50 participants.
“Our plans was to begin the first batch of training with 50 coaches over a one month period, but we have been bombarded with over 150 coaches registering as at the last count. This is quite encouraging and we are still counting.
“This will bring about improved performance amongst our coaches with so many people showing interest. We are totally committed to ensure that all coaches who are based in Lagos are certified in line with the best practices.
“Any coach that wants to work in Lagos must be certified by the NIS. We cannot entrust the future of our football to people who are not up to date with modern day football coaching technic.
Football all over the world is now technology driven as the rules are changing everyday. The NIS through this collaboration has agreed to upscale the knowledge of our coaches. If you are not part of this you can’t be certified or work in Lagos. We are grateful to the director-general of the NIS, Professor Olawale Moronkola, for subsidizing the training and simplifying it to accommodate all categories of coaches.”
Gafar assured that he had personally given scholarship to 36 coaches which will result in as many coaches as possible are certified over a 5 -year period. “I urge other people to join the Lagos State Football Association in this noble course to change the narrative of coaching in the state and Nigeria at large”
Also speaking, the registrar of the NIS, Mr Belmond Benson, said ” We are collaborating with the LSFA to change the fortunes of the coaches and to ensure overall football development.
“This collaboration is in line with our core mandate to train and equip coaches for optimal performance.The training will re- orientate people’s mindset that you can just be a coach based on your passion alone. Our coaches must be up to date. If you are basing your coaching on what you learnt few years ago, you canot function well. The NIS has designed the program to make desired impact on the coaches”
Top rated coaches like Fatai Amoo, Peter Nieketen Jeremiah Kuhwa and former Super Eagles goalkeeper Dele Aiyenugba are some of the resource persons for the training.
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