Greensprings School, Lekki, has partnered with Southampton Football Club in England to operate a football academy in the country.
According to a statement by the school, the football academy is aimed at complementing the school’s annual football camp, which recently produce two players that feature in the Golden Eaglets squad. It won the 2022 WAFU B U-17 Championship.
Speaking about the Football Academy, Principal, Wider Curriculum of the school, Mrs Jennifer Sunkanmi-Qazzeem, said, “Our Lekki campus has always been known for sports because of our numerous sports facilities, and at the beginning of this school year, the campus was designated as the Centre of Excellence in Sports. In line with that, we collaborated with Team Nigeria International, which is the international academy partner for Southampton FC. This gave birth to the Greensprings / Southampton FC Football Academy, which officially kicked off on Monday 7th November.”
Concerning the modality of the academy, Sunkanmi-Qazzeem said students attended three training sessions per week after school hours, saying they also participated in FUTSTAR League, which allowed them to be scouted by football clubs abroad.
“Coaches at GSSFA are groomed the ‘Southampton way,’ and they provide top-class training that would enable our students to improve their technical and tactical skills. In addition to that, they will carry out customised player evaluations aimed at helping our students identify career pathways in sports and allied industries.”
The academy entails three training sessions per week, a coach-to-student ratio of 1:10 and participation in the FUTSTAR League, which gives them the opportunity to be scouted abroad. More importantly, the football academy provides a sports education curriculum that supports students’ academic pursuits and excellence, and for this reason, training takes place after school hours,” she said.
