The President of the Grassroots Football Talents Developer Association of Nigeria (GRAFTADEAN), Coach Yusuff Kazeem Adesina has emphasized the importance of grassroots football and talent scouting.
Coach Fufana as he is widely known made the call in Ibadan while featuring on a sports program anchored by Olusola Alabi on Adamimogo 105.1 FM recently.
The certified football coach highlighted the importance of grassroots football development and the role of GRAFTADEAN in discovering future football stars.
“Grassroots football is important because it provides exposure for talented players yet to come to the limelight. And every country’s intent on becoming a football powerhouse must give adequate attention to grassroots football. However, despite its obvious importance, grassroots football has received poor support in Nigeria.
“We are fortunate to have many talented footballers at the grassroots level in Nigeria. Discovering and nurturing these talents to higher levels is the primary responsibility of GRAFTADEAN. However, over the past seven years, we have made significant efforts in identifying future stars and continue to work diligently on talent development across Nigeria,” he stated.
Coach Fufana explained that GRAFTADEAN has been in existence for over seven years and has achieved remarkable success at the grassroots level.
“We have nurtured many players from grassroots to European leagues, including Abubakar Mohammed, John Kolawole, who played Nigeria’s Under-17 and now Liga Revelação, and Taoreed Adeola, a midfielder for Dinamo Minsk in Belarus, etc. Our focus is on grooming talented footballers through our activities and securing significant opportunities for them in Europe,” he added.
Explaining the experience of coaches within GRAFTADEAN, Coach Fufana emphasized that all their coaches are certified and have extensive experience in the sport, saying “there are a variety of levels of qualification, and lots of them have learned the basics of coaching for use at amateur or grassroots level with children.”
He, however, encouraged parents and guardians to support their children’s focus on education and football while commended the association’s board of trustees under the leadership of Prince Wasiu Oloyede Asanike as the Chairman, and the Vice Chairman, Engr. Waheed Afolabi Emmanuel for their continued support, including providing scholarships and other forms of empowerment for talented footballers.
