Parents, Stakeholders Hail Cowbell Football Academy Initiative

Amidst funfair and entertainment, the final of the 2016 summer camp of the Cowbell Football Academy came to an end last Saturday at the main bowl of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, with parents and stakeholders hailing

Cowbell for the initiative.

In a chat with the Rector, Cowbell Football Academy, Godwin Dudu-Orumen, he thank Cowbell for the support it’s giving to the academy.

“Support from Cowbell has been great, they’ve been very supportive. We have 17 coaches in three centers and Cowbell paid all of them as at when due, and some of them have been sent on refresher courses. We boast of equipment that some professional football clubs don’t even have. Though it could be a lot better as we want to have our own hostels and training ground and create a bit of formal environment but so far cowbell have done well for the camp, Dudu-Orumen emphasised.

According to him, his experience with Cowbell Academy is all year round, saying that the summer camp is only an activity for three weeks mainly for children in boarding houses.

“The regular academy closes to accommodate the summer camp. We have played about 160 friendly and competitive matches and we incurred less than 20 yellow cards, meaning what I set out to do to bring up good and sound minds and bodies is being achieved.

Parents have accosted me and said to me that Cowbell Academy had taught our children discipline. As early as 6.am they are getting ready for summer camp. So the object of bringing up good Nigerians and teaching them values on the platform of football had been achieved in terms of discipline. A lot the children from the academy that sat for the last West Africa Examination Council had five or more credits,” he noted.

Orumen further noted that two of the products from the academy were part of the Nigerian team that won gold at the Africa Youth Championship (AYC), saying one of them, Toheeb Gidado, was the team’s captain.

“Response and commendation from the parents had proven to me that what the academy is achieving its objective to help keep children away from mischief, have them gainfully employed and bring up discipline and focused children. The sole aim of the camp is not to bring up professional footballers but rather to bring up better human beings. So we don’t give them the impression that they will one day become Zinadine Zidane or Christiano Ronaldo,” Orumen said.

The three-week summer camp, particularly opened for students on long vacation, was aimed at the total development of the Nigerian child through sports and extra-curricular activities.

Category Manager, Dairy, Promasidor Nigeria Limited,Abiodun Ayodeji, revealed that the company created the initiative with a view to adding value to the society as a socially-responsible corporate citizen.

“We are very keen in creating activities and platforms that would provide a 360 degrees development opportunity for Nigerian children and youths. This is all about total development, whether in academics or extra-curricular activities,” Ayodeji said.

Former Super Eagles and Barcelona player, Gbenga Okunowo was on hand to boost the confidence of the CFA Boys.

The Cowbell Football Academy currently has three centres in Lagos, Ikorodu and Benin.