Sixteen youth clubs have registered to participate in the maiden edition of Olakunle Olusegun Kwara Kids Cup (OKKC) tournament, as the sponsor, Olakunle Olusegun has graciously approved free registration for the teams.
The competition is expected to kick-off in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on Monday 20th November, 2023, and is geared towards the discovery, development and nurturing of young talents at the grassroots.
The competition is being sponsored by Olakunle Olusegun Jnr., former Arsenal Kiddies Football Academy prodigy and FC Kransnodar of Russia prolific Striker. It’s tagged ‘giving back to the society’.
The Football Academies that have already registered to participate are Arsenal Kiddies, New Era FA, Oloyede FA, Wisdom FA, Petvic SC, Surprise FA, Champion FA, Makamz FA and Achiever FA.
Others are Gerewu FA, Stainless FA, Legend FA, Flash Bomber, Kingshood, Future Star and Barca Kiddies.
The Kids Cup is an 8-a-side U-13 competition, and each participating team is expected to present a maximum of 14 players for screening.
Meanwhile, a list of 10-man Main Organizing Committee (MOC) has been announced, with Soni Ahamioje as the Chairman. Ahamioje is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Arsenal Kiddies Football Academy.
Others are Coach Oloyede (Secretary), Bayour Issah (Consultant), Alhaji Yahaya Usman (Member O/D), Busayo Olayinka (Technical), DSP E. D. Ameh (Retd) (Security), Monday John (Welfare), Tosin Olusegun (Welfare), Seun Ogunlana (Logistics) and Mrs. Mary Ogunleye (Matron).
The play-off for the tournament begins on Monday 20th November and the final on Sunday 24th December, 2023.
According to the Chairman of the MOC, Soni Ahamioje, it is going to be total football coupled with entertainment, skills, colour and glamour, and that, at the end of the competition, the Best Players will be sponsored to partake in the screening exercises of some top Academies across the country.
He also promised that the MOC will organize a hitch-free tournament that will be worthy of emulation.
