Winner of the Shuffle Select 2018 Ilesanmi Oluwaseun and Gabriel Okebe on Sunday departed Lagos for England as they begin their Football and Education scholarship at Brooke House College, United Kingdom.
The players who emerged winners at the Lagos and Abuja screening respectively boarded Qatar Airways in Lagos were received by officials of the school at the London Heathrow.
The Shuffle Select programme is a brainchild of Thotsplay Concepts in collaboration with Brooke House College, England where players are afforded the opportunity of studying and advancing their playing career abroad on a full scholarship for two years.
The program targeted players from ages of 14 and 18 as this year’s edition was held in Abuja (April 28th-29th) and Lagos (May2nd – 5th) with scouts from the UK alongside ex-internationals Dosu Joseph and Ogunlade Hakeem coordinating.
According to Dosu, “I believe Ilesanmi and Gabriel will excel like the sixteen-year-old Abubakar Araphat, the winner of the 2017 edition who is currently with Barnsley Football Club in England.
“Shuffle Select is designed to provide a platform to help footballers achieve academic success and at the same time purse playing career. All I wish them is the best,” added the 1996 Olympic gold medallist.
Similarly, Odeyinka Ibrahim, the initiator of the programme, expressed confidence in the abilities of the players to excel in the UK.
“I went through this school and that is why I decided to give these players the same opportunity which I believe they will be forever grateful for.”
“Shuffle Select has an existing and flourishing partnership with Brooke House College over the years which has borne many fruits as some of the selected players are currently studying and chasing their dreams,” he said.
Brooke House College encourages students to live balanced lives, combining hard work with full participation in our varied programme of sporting, cultural and social activities.
Sports and Social Organizer tries to ensure that there is something for everyone in terms of extra-curricular events. The college has a football team which play against other schools and local clubs where players who have potentials get to try out at clubs around Europe.