Abia State Sports developer and the Chairman Jewel Football Academy Mr. Iyke Aaron hinted at his big dreams for Jewel Football Academy.
The sports developer gave his words during the Governor Ikepazu Preseason Tournament after his Jewel FA played against Cynosure FC, a second-tier division team and dazed the team with great football techniques and style of play.
While responding to our correspondent’s questions, he added that he already bought four hectares of land for the Academy and wants to change the face of the club for better branding and representation.
“As of today, we have a 4-hectare land we have acquired to build a permanent site for the academy here in Aba. If you go through the pages of Facebook, we are doing a logo challenge just to change the face of the Academy and also to broaden the scope of what we want to achieve.”
“We are at the subsistent level now and we are trying to grow up to the commercial aspect of it, with a sustainable approach to ensure that it’s not just football alone. We can try a bit of what they do in England, partly academics and partly football. We are trying to build capacity and manpower and give young people something they can fall back on in the future.”
“The academy is a give-back project. Last time, I invited some scouts that came from Portugal and Holland, about fifteen clubs across Nigeria (including Enyimba FC) were invited. We had a give-back soccer project with more evidence of the realization of our mission and vision to transform Nigeria youth especially Aba youth into responsible adults. We will keep investing in the youths just like we have invested on the internet (YouTube and Facebook).”
“Fortunately, some young lads were drafted by the European scouts that were present. COVID19 delayed a lot of their programs but we are glad that some players have already agreed on deals with clubs in Portugal.”
“The Governor Ikpeazu Pre-Season Tournament is the right step in the right direction. It’s a need for exposure to the new and young players and also displayed the tactical discipline of the participating teams.” He concluded.
