By Daily Sports on October 5, 2017

It’s a remarkable feat; It is a fact that is almost lost on Nigerians. Benin City-based grassroots club BJ Foundation FC have at present three former players featuring for the senior national team of the country, the Super Eagles. Victor Moses (Chelsea), Edison Echiejile (Sivasspor,Turkey), and Ndubuisi Agu of Portuguese giants Porto are the three ex-BJ stars who played against Cameroon in the double header Russia 2008 World Cup qualifiers, when Nigeria won 4-0 at home and drew 1-1 away in Yaounde. And these guys are going to be in the thick of the Eagles plans against the Zambian this weekend and help Nigeria land in the World Cup next year.

Its very likely that it is the first time that as much as three players who were educated at the same grassroots club are featuring at the same time in the first team of the Eagles.

It is also remarkable that these players got their grassroots football education almost wholly at BJ Foundation before they sojourned to the professional level. They didn't play any major grassroots football in another club while they were at that level.

For famed talent moulder Douglas Idahosa, who is the founder of the club, it is a story of personal success. The stock of the young coach has been steadily on the rise on the back his dogged approach to the development of exciting young players for the delight of the world. Combine that with his personal honours of leading youth teams to local, national and international successes, and one comes to terms with the heroism of a youth coach from a humble background in Edo State, South-South Nigeria.

It should also be noted as well that there are other Europe-based products of the coach who are waiting in the fringes of a Super Eagles call up. They include Watford of English premiership striker, Isaac Success and Geuther Furth of German second division's Erhun Obanor.

It is cliche to say that many coaches at the grassroots level are quick to claim a role in the success story of players who – no matter how briefly – played for them. They point to a big name player on TV and say: “That’s my boy”. It is the richest part of their CV. For Idahosa that is simply not enough to establish his name as a top local coach. That is why he channeled his love of the game into a devotion to achieve success by winning things locally and internationally with youth teams.

In one of his post-training addresses to his players at the Arinze Primary School playing field in Benin City  where his team trains, Idahosa tells the anecdote of his journey to Denmark in 2000, when he led a group of youngsters from Abudu to represent Nigeria in an international football competition. He talks about the skepticism from a family member who doubted the possibility of a seemingly unknown brother being given the task of leading a Nigerian team to Europe. There was also surprise when he was chosen (ahead of more famous names in Nigerian football) by soft drinks kings Coca Cola to lead the Nigerian team to the maiden edition of the Copa Cup, an annual tournament aimed at giving young players a platform for excelling in their chosen football career, in 2009.

Idahosa responded to the doubts in both cases by not allowing himself to be fazed by the challenges, working even harder, and at the end winning both tournaments, becoming the first coach from Nigeria and Africa to achieve the feats. In 2010, he led his Benin City team to retain the Nigeria Copa Cup, but was not appointed to take the Nigerian team to the international stage of the Copa Cup. Nigeria has failed to win the tournament since Idahosa last won it in 2009.

What is the secret that seems to stand this youthful coach out in the crowd of grassroots coaches? Why is there a growing clamour that has gone beyond whispers, for him to be given the opportunity to coach one of the youth national teams of Nigeria? The answer may be found in the words of one young ex-BJ player, Osas Ovenseri, who was part of the Coca Cola team that went on a playing tour to the Stamford Bridge London home of current English premier League champions Chelsea in 2011. “He is devoted to the success of his players and can sacrifice anything for their progress,” Ovenseri says.

For Kenneth Imana, the assistant coach of BJ FC, the most impressive quality of Idahosa’s personality is his disciplined nature. His words: “Douglas inculcates discipline in his players. He doesn’t drink, smoke nor womanises, and he stresses to his players that he expects them to curb any excesses in their social life.”

Idahosa’s coaching behavior is based around the concept of directness and simplicity with players. Each player is handed a tactical role, but room is always made for individualism to come to the fore. Training sessions are fixed for about 2pm to ensure players adapt to tough sunny weather conditions.

Nigerians hope for a new generation of tactically sound, disciplined, and self-confident coaches for the national teams could be answered by the emergence of youth coaches like Douglas Idahosa.

But at the moment his proteges of Echiejile, Moses and Agu are doing the most effective talking for him in the football field for Nigeria.

The young and accomplished coach Idahosa is presently on holiday in California, USA as he gets a much deserved rest before hopefully continuing his talent discovery and building work.

Source Daily Sports

Posted October 5, 2017

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