As part of its continuous contribution towards football development in Nigeria, Greensprings School Lekki campus has established a relationship with Southampton Football Club in England to run a football academy. The football academy aims to complement the school’s annual football camp, which recently produced two players featured in the Golden Eaglets squad that won the 2022 WAFU B U-17 Championship.
Mrs Jennifer Sunkanmi-Qazzeem, Principal, Wider Curriculum of the school, explained that the introduction of the football academy is in line with the school’s theme and objectives for the 2022/2023 academic year.
The Greensprings/Southampton FC Football Academy (GSSFA) officially kicked off on November 7.
Concerning the modality of the academy, Sunkanmi-Qazzeem said students attend three training sessions per week after school hours and participate in FUTSTAR League, allowing foreign scouts to observe them.
“Coaches at GSSFA are groomed the ‘Southampton Way’, and they provide top-class training that would enable our students to improve their technical and tactical skills,” she stated. “In addition to that, they will carry out customised player evaluations aimed at helping our students identify career pathways in sports and allied industries.”
According to her, the academy entails three training sessions per week, a coach-to-student ratio of 1:10 and participation in the FUTSTAR League, which gives them the opportunity to be scouted abroad.
GSSFA is currently only open to students of Greensprings School.
