Former Green Eagles dashing winger Clement Temile has started the journey of producing budding talents that will rule the next generation of Nigeria national team footballers.
During the launch of the Temile Football Foundation at the National Institute for Sports NIS inside the Lagos National Stadium at the weekend, Temile stated that it took him painstaking efforts to scout the various parts of the country before arriving at the inaugural squad.
“I went round the country, pick the good players, the same thing I did in Lagos, Mainland and Island,” the AFCON 1984 silver medal winner said.
“I didn’t do public screening. I picked them and camped them in a hotel. I did one week training, about 60 players in a hotel. And I picked the best.”
The initial 60 youngsters below the age of 16 were whittled down to a manageable size of the very best from the squad.
According to the former player of Israeli club Beitar Netanya, youngsters who show exceptional maturation should be rest assured their international future is secured.
The ex Brendel Insurance winger Temile said: “I know in every year, I will take 4, 5 of them out of the country. In Georgia I have a license to bring up to ten to fifteen players there.
“So it’s not coming to put them here and train to go and play in all these their competitions. No. I train them, as I send them there, I bring again.”
Scouting and assembling the players for the foundation wouldn’t had been possible without the support and consent of the boys’ parents.
One of the parents who attended the launch Mr Gideon Ndel explained that giving out his son to Temile’s programme was never a problem after he did his research on the ex Eagle.
“The way Clement Temile talked to me, he convinced me and I trusted him. And I went into Google. I searched about Clement Temile. I saw his achievements, his profile, as a coach and player. So that is where I believed him,” Ndel said.
“And he came to my house personally, met me and my wife, we sat down, we talked, he told me everything about himself, he also told me about my son, how my son has been playing on the football pitch, how he likes my son, and handed my son fully to him.”
Having acquired a UEFA A Pro coaching licence Temile could be well equipped for this new journey of moulding young players into world beaters.
However he could count on the support of some of his contemporaries who attended the launch in Lagos.
Speaking in support of the foundation is football activist and former Sharks FC player Harrison Jallah who insisted that Temile Academy would stand the test of time.
“This is his(Temile) way of giving back to the society. And with what we discussed in private. This is the best way to develop Nigerian football. Those of us who have played at the highest level, should come back and see what we can do at the grassroots level. So we are going to give him all the support he needs, to make this work,” Jallah stated.
Other dignitaries who graced the Football Foundation launch included former international and ex ACB defender Awalla Jumbo, former Insurance player Moses Akhator, veteran sports journalist John Joshua Akanji among others.
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