Grassroots football in dire need of support and competent hands News

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Grassroots football in dire need of support and competent hands

By Daily Sports on December 14, 2017

Grassroots football is something which the football community continues to talk about and I think we are all in agreement that it is an extremely important part of football in the Nigeria.

However, despite all of this, hundreds of non-league clubs fold every year, and I think it’s up to the upper echelons of the football scene in Nigeria to support our grassroots teams – giving them the guidance and funding they need to kick on.

A lot of adults play football, and the number of people playing the game in the country is expected to carry on rising.

There are players playing for Premier League teams right now who might have never played the game without the support and infrastructure which our grassroots community provides – and it’s important to remember that without the foundations, top level football would crumble away as talented young players struggle to find a place to play.

However, grassroots isn’t just about providing top flight clubs with a steady flow of young talent – it has a purpose which is much more deeply rooted in Nigerian football. Thousands of young adults and teens play football every week across the country, and the grassroots community is what allows them to do this.

If the support and opportunities weren’t there it would result in a percentage of the population losing perhaps their only pastime and leisure hobby. It has become a cliché that sports ‘take children off the streets’, however I think that it has a huge grain of truth to it.

Grassroots football gives countless youngsters and adults a chance to have fun and enjoy themselves. Football is something which can have a positive impact on people’s lives and this is why it is so important.

Football is a community like no other, and the sense of kinship and friendship within the game is unrivalled in my opinion.

This is why grassroots football is so important – not just to the lower league sides, but also to everyone who is involved in the game – from local teams all the way to the top flight of the game.

That said, it is also important to point out that there are very many impediments to grassroots football besides a lack of proper funding. There is simply the problem of corruption and gross incompetence that has eaten deep at the lower levels of football that can turn off the Lilly -livered investor who ponders plunging his money into the game.

I have recently had the displeasure of seeing my local club Benin Warriors become the victims if unnecessary cheating in small competitions by faux referees who pose as hatchet men to rob young players.

Just Thursday (December 14) morning, we were eliminated in the quarter final of the Edo Heritage Cup by a team (Agbaka FC) made up of old retired and retiring players. The referee, who’s a failed former player of Bendel Insurance did everything within his powers to frustrate my very young team, denying us a clear penalty to draw level with the match at 2-1 for Agbaka.

We defended terribly, but produced enough offensive display to at least not lose on regulation time, but the referee had a clear cut plan to frustrate the players with corrupt calls.

As I told him, if at this stage of football, he’s willing to cheat, then it’s a shame. I hoped he doesn’t have a plan for a refereeing career, otherwise he’s headed for obscurity.

But the larger problem is that way too many people involved in organising football at the grassroots level are incompetent and, in many cases, insincere to truly help the game to grow at the grass to level.

No amount of money can solve such problems if people at the helm do not have the moral gumption to change things positively.

Source Daily Sports

Posted December 14, 2017