Union Bank of Nigeria has said the vision of the promoters of Ogenyi Onazi Football Clinic aligned with the strategic ideals of the financial institution to transform football at the grassroots hence their decision to support the project.
More than 1000 kids and scores of football clubs are participating in the clinic which is the brainchild of a former Super Eagles midfielder and winner of the 2013 African Cup of Nations, Ogenyi Onazi.
Speaking at the Stable, the venue of the clinic, Alvin Agorom, who is UBN’s Head, Strategic Brand, said the bank is noted for its contribution to sports development and the support for the clinic validates that reputation.
He said the bank would be happy to be part of a journey that would lead to the discovery and nurturing of the next superstars in football.
“We are very delighted to support Ogenyi Onazi Football Clinic; it is an effort that aligns with our strategy as a brand; for people who were familiar with what we have done with the facilities that we have here some 30, 40 years ago would recall that it was targeted at developing grassroots football and now we are rebuilding.”
Trying to amplify opportunities that we have around sports. This is a laudable attempt at identifying youngsters and developing them to become big stars in the nearest future. We are very happy, and we can tell you that this is one of the first things of many more things like this to come.
Onazi said talent identified at the clinic would be exposed to trials in Europe as some clubs have offered to assess the players with the possibility of engaging the successful ones.
“I have contacted a lot of clubs in Europe and other parts of the world and some of them have given us the opportunity to bring these players for trials. They have given us this opportunity because of the trust they have in me and any of these players that meet up with the criteria.
“As you can see, we have Paul AIgbogun, the technical man in the Nigeria Football Federation and a highly respected coach here and we are working together to select these players. Everything we are doing here is free of charge, we have not asked any of these kids to pay a dime and our sponsors have made it so easy for us,” he said.
