I vow to raise new Usain Bolts, Hakeem Olajuwons of sports  — Salaudeen

By Esther Egbe

In pursuant of its objective of harnessing the sporting potentials of young boys and girls in the country, Buruj Sports Academy has commenced registration of athletes for the multi-sports training programmes which will fully take off in January next year.

The new expansion will see the Ikorodu-based institution register both students and school leavers of various ages who are desirous of taking into major sports like basketball, table tennis, athletics, lawn tennis, cycling and other sports aside from football which has been their mainstay and area of competence in the last ten years of their operations.

The focus is to unearth raw talents from the grassroots, train and groom them to become the future stars like Usain Bolt and Hakeem Olajuwon in the world of sports.

After a period of intensive training, any of the registered athletes who can excel and show promise will be considered for opportunity to travel to countries like USA, Canada and United Kingdom where they can compete in world-class tournaments where they can be discovered for professional contracts.

CEO of the academy, Salaudeen Waheed, told National Daily that “We want to provide young athletes of various age categories with an exciting and educational multi-sports coaching programme at weekends and during holidays for those still in school; while also encouraging and developing young school leavers  to grow and evolve both as athletes and individuals.”

“Our training schedules offer an extensive programme of team and individual sports coaching activities as well as weekly team building challenges. We have all the facilities required to cater for those who may wish to embark on full-time programmes and we have recruited seasoned coaches and trainers with requisite experience and exposure in all sports training and management to help groom them to become the best in the world of sports,” he posited.

Meanwhile, registration of athletes has commenced in earnest, starting from the summer holiday coaching clinic for young footballers.