Sia-One Academy Niger Delta Football Talent Hunt Kicks off

By Olawale Ajimotokan

The Sia-One Academy football talent hunt for the five Niger Delta states will kick off sunday in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Rivers and Bayelsa states respectively. The programme which has the full backing of the federal government via the Amnesty Programme will attract young players between the ages of 15 -20 across the five mentioned states.

Former Super Eagles coach, Samson Siasia, the founder of Sia-One Sports Academy, explained the essence of staging this talent hunt exercise. “We are starting with five states for now and the target is to discover players while still very young from between the ages of 15 and 20. The purpose is to engage these young, talented footballers early using sports and most especially football as the starting basis. 

“Everyone should present their birth certificates when coming because you can’t participate if you don’t have one. We have qualified coordinators in all the five riverine states mentioned and our target is to screen and pick 30 players for the final talent hunt that will take place in Uyo, Akwa Ibom on May 20”, Siasia disclosed.

He explained further that the programme is also designed to incorporate education into sports by training the selected players thus preparing them for a better future.

Educational scholarship will be offered to the successful ones to study sports management courses at a European university.