Niger Tornadoes Sporting Director, Mojeed Ibrahim partners ALI-JIB to develop football talents
Niger Tornadoes Sporting Director, Mojeed Ibrahim partners ALI-JIB to develop football talents
By Abubakar Hassan
The Sporting Director of Niger Tornadoes Football Club of Minna, Mojeed Ibrahim, has announced a partnership commitment with ALI-JIB Grassroots Football Developer to promote and develop young football talents through the annual Coach Bala Abubakar Under-13 Football Competition in Minna, Niger State.
Mojeed announced the partnership at the final of the fourth edition of the competition, where he pledged to personally offset 50 per cent of the financial requirements of the next edition as part of efforts to strengthen the grassroots initiative.
He said the project aligned with his vision as Sporting Director of Niger Tornadoes, stressing that the quality of young talents discovered at the competition demonstrated the need for sustained investment in grassroots football.
The Sporting Director also promised to meet with the organisers to work out modalities for his involvement, while expressing his readiness to attract other investors and partners to the project to expand opportunities for the young players.
Sponsor of the competition and Technical Adviser of Wikki Tourists Football Club of Bauchi State, Coach Abubakar Bala Mohammed, described the partnership as a major development for the tournament, expressing appreciation to Mojeed Ibrahim for his commitment to youth development.
Coach Bala disclosed that plans were underway to select outstanding players from the four editions of the competition and take them to Abuja next January for friendly matches against selected academies, with scouts and football managers expected to attend and assess the players.
He also announced a personal scholarship commitment to Jafaru, a talented player from Tunga United Football Club discovered during the tournament, promising to shoulder the financial responsibilities of his secondary education from JSS1 to JSS3.
According to him, the initiative was part of efforts to ensure that talented children from Niger State receive not only exposure but also the necessary support to develop their potential both on and off the football pitch.
Chairman of Niger Tornadoes, Dr Abubakar Abdullahi Kuso, commended Coach Bala and the organisers for sustaining the competition, describing it as an avenue through which the club could identify players for its planned youth development structure.
Dr. Kuso disclosed that Niger Tornadoes was working towards establishing Under-13 and Under-15 teams as well as a female team, noting that developing players from the grassroots would help provide a sustainable pathway for the club.
He also appealed to the club’s supporters to remain patient with the team, assuring them that management was working to return the club to winning ways. He noted that teams could experience difficult starts in a league season and still finish strongly.
Chairman of the organizing committee, Sani Muhammad Ali, expressed gratitude to the participating teams, coaches, sponsors and other stakeholders for ensuring the successful completion of the fourth edition, saying the organisers had sustained the competition through personal sacrifices since its inception.
Ali welcomed the new partnership with the Tornadoes Sporting Director, assuring him that the organizers would reciprocate his confidence by improving the competition and providing a better platform for youth development in subsequent editions.
The final saw Junior Splash Warriors defeat Junior Black Stars 4-3 on penalties after the encounter ended 2-2 at regulation time, while trophies, prizes and certificates were presented to participating teams, coaches and outstanding players at the close of the competition.
