By Taofeek Lawal
At least 200 young coaches from the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) clubs and football academies across the country have started training in modern football techniques in a coaching clinic being facilitated by the Spanish Football league, LaLiga and Nigeria’s League Management Company (LMC).
The training which started last Tuesday in Abuja is the 4th Edition of the-LaLiga/LMC Coaching Clinic.
The clinic, according to organizers, is primarily designed to train youth coaches on how to properly develop young talents using the LaLiga methodology. The coaches are also being introduced to the complex and technical aspects of LaLiga’s methodology.
Speaking at the beginning of the clinic, LMC Chairman, Shehu Dikko while speaking at the event said the partnership between LaLiga and the NPFL has brought huge developments and progress since the agreement was signed in 2016
According to him, “youth development is the future of football and having the support of the best league in the world, LaLiga, has been immensely helpful in developing football in Nigeria.” He added that the agreement includes an opportunity for the LMC All-Star team to go to Spain for tournaments.
“Our administrators went to Spain in 2016 to attend courses and in 2018, we had Atletico Madrid come to play our team. Most importantly, having this coaching seminar run for the fourth time in a row is one of the most fundamental programmes we have done for Nigerian football and we are excited to officially kick off the 4th edition of the coaching clinic,” he said.
LaLiga delegate in Nigeria, Guillermo Perez Castello described the programme as a success, revealing that the partnership was initially for three years, “but because we know how important this is to grassroots football development, we have decided to continue this partnership and we hope for this partnership to go on for many years to come.”
He added: “For LaLiga, this is one of most important projects we have in Nigeria and Africa. I hope the coaches not only listen but attempt to implement the insights received, and relay to their various teams to produce the best results”.
Coach Bunmi Haruna, who was one of the Golden Eaglets’ assistant coaches to the 2019 U-17 World Cup in Brazil in an interview with Newspeakonline described the clinic as “a huge chance to learn new trends in football coaching.”
It also specifically teaches the Spanish methodology of playing football.
“It is a seminar I could have paid a fortune to attend in Europe, but thanks to NPFL and LaLiga, I can have it here in Abuja” he said.
