Onouha Igwe, Abia State
September 18, 2015 – The 2015 Diamond Youth Soccer Championship, organized for football academy teams across the nation by the Diamond International Football Academy has ended in Umuahia, the Abia State capital with Abia Warriors Football Club Youth Team emerging as the overall champions.
The Warriors, under the tutelage of Kelvin Ejeh and Chidozie Ukoh, won four of their five games during the competition with one draw including a 3-1 penalty shoot-out victory over city rivals and hosts Diamond Football Academy in the final game decided at the Abia State University, Umuahia Campus pitch.
The final match, which was witnessed by some foreign scouts and the Assistant Coach of Nigeria’s senior national team, the Super Eagles, Salisu Yusuf, as well as other football aficionados both from within and outside Abia State, could not produce any goals during regulation and extra time, hence the penalty shoot-out to untie them.
Among the teams that participated in the annual football festival were CAP FC and Youth Sports football Academy, both from Lagos, INE Stars of Benin, Konum Farms FC, Warri, Delta State and GEE-LEC Football Academy from Jos, Plateau State.
Presenting the giant gold trophy to the captain of Abia Warriors Youth team, an obviously elated President, Diamond Football Academy, Umuahia, Prince Martin Ikechukwu Apugo, commended the winners as well as all the participants for making the competition thick and promised that the contest which started in 2012, will continue to attract youth teams across the world annually.
Prince Apugo noted that the youth competition was initiated to help develop Nigerian Football at the grassroots level and create a platform for talented youngsters to showcase their personal skills in the presence of national and international football scouts and coaches, revealing that the objective is being realized as products of the competition have gone ahead to play for league teams across the globe and Nigeria’s national youth teams.
In his speech, Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, who was represented by his Senior Special Assistant on sports, Rev Obioma Onyeaghala, commended the organizers for a job well done and expressed confidence that the competition will help lay a solid foundation for the growth, development and sustenance of youth football in the state in particular and Nigeria in general.
Dr Ikpeazu promised that his administration will continue to support sports as a way of creating employment and developing talent, calling on the private sector to assist government in this regard since sports is capital intensive.
Chief Emeka Inyama, the Chairman of Abia Warriors Football Club, who showered cash and gifts to his youth team and the runners-up, said the competition was an eye-opener as some youngsters, who could graduate to the Abia Warriors main team were spotted and will be given a chance at the end of the season to rub shoulders with the big boys.
