Cowbell Academy partners Vitesse Arnhem FC of Holland to train 400 Nigerian coaches

As earlier reported, Cowbell Football Academy (CFA) and Soya, a Holland-based non-governmental organisation under the umbrella of Free-Kicks have entered into partnership with Vitesse Arnhem FC of Holland to train about 400 coaches in Nigeria in the next three years.

L-R: Godwin Dudu-Orumen, Rector,Cowbell Football Academy, Barrister Seyi Akinwumi, Chairman Lagos Football Association, Harrald Stelder, Dutch coach and Sylvester Okonkwo, Proprietor of Soya, an Holland-based NGO at the on-going training of 60 coaches and 400 youth footballers by Dutch youth football coaches at the National Stadium Surulere Lagos on Monday.

Mr. Godwin Dudu-Orumen, the Rector of the CFA disclosed this in Lagos yesterday at the National Institute of Sports at the on-going training of 60 coaches and 400 youth footballers by Dutch youth football coaches under the free-kicks initiative.

Dudu-Orumen said the partnership is coming on the heels of the realisation that poor coaching is a major problem of Nigerian football. “Nigerian football needs a revolution and that revolution we have decided to take on with CFA. We have identified poor coaching as a major problem of football in Nigeria. We want to train 400 coaches in the next three years who will in turn train about 6,000 footballers across the country,” Dudu-Orumen said.

He said they invited 10 coaches out of the 60 coaches participating in the current training from outside Lagos while 50 are from clubs within Lagos, adding that these coaches will expand the vision and every year, we will have upgrade for them.

Mr. Sylvester Okonkwo, a member of the board of trustees of Free-Kicks as well as the proprietor of Soya, an Holland based NGO committed to youth football development in Nigeria and driven by Mr. Sylvester Okonkwo, a member of the board of Free-kickswho facilitated the trip of the Dutch coaches also said they come up with this project to address the problem Nigerian football is facing.

He encouraged the Nigerian coaches to ask questions when the need arise because the Dutch coaches are amiable gentlemen. “You have an important role to play in Nigerian football because you interfaced with the footballers directly.”