.As Youths Ages 9-13 Acquire Modern Technique Of Football

The 2013 Milo Football Clinic, which started with thousands of young boys and girls in Abuja last month, will formally end on Saturday, 16 November at the Agege Stadium in Lagos State.
Originator of the annual football clinic in Nigeria, Peter Rufai described the youth development programme as a huge success this year, declaring that the selected youngsters will take part in the novelty match that will end the Lagos event.
The Lagos leg of the clinic, held from Tuesday, 12-16 November, completed the youth programme organised in seven cities across the country.
The clinic started with the Abuja leg from 2-5 October, moved to Benin City in Edo State, where renown coaches tutored the kids between 8-12 October.
Rufai and his train then relocated to the Garden City to stage the Port Harcourt leg from 15-19 October, while the Enugu State leg was held between 22-26 October, before the kids in Akure, Ondo State had their share from 29 October – 2 November.
The clinic was also held in Abeokuta, Ogun State from 5-9 November before finally arriving in Lagos for the grand finale between 12-16 November, where the kids were exposed to series of football techniques throughout the week.
Rufai and his experienced coaches took the kids through stamina build up, ball control, passing, marking, team-play and concentration to mention just a few of the skills they acquired in the week long exercise in the clinic.
It was gathered that about 32 players who make the final list to be selected by the foreign football technocrats on ground, would be groomed on quarterly basis, thereby ensuring they have future careers as footballers.
“We have impacted on these young players positively and tutored them on the modern technique of football, which is not common here in Nigeria. We are able to do that because our sponsor, Milo, believes in future champions, and I’m happy about the success of this clinic”, Rufai told journalists at Agege Stadium, venue of the final leg in Lagos.
The kids are being exposed to the rudiments of football by top coaches, led by Rufai himself.
Rufai however urged the kids to utilise what they have learnt from their trainers during the clinic to improve on their game as they face future challenges, while he thanked their sponsor, Milo for sharing in his vision to give back to the Nigerian youths as an ex-international. This year’s football clinic is the fourth season of the youth development programme, where the lucky kids selected from the over 14,000 participants are given scholarships.