Kaduna State Government has commended Abubakar Bukola Saraki Football Club for assisting the development of football at the grassroots nationwide, through, its Players Talent Hunt and Development Programme.
The pilot exercise kicked off today, Friday July 26th, 2024, with over 300 players from 19 teams participating in the Day One of the North West Zonal selection, held at the Main-Bowl of the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna State.
The Permanent Secretary, Kaduna State Ministry of Sports Development, Alhaji Muktar Abdullahi, who was also at the Stadium to inspect the historic edifice, which is on of the Sports development symbols of the North, hailed the Programme as “an important event”.
“Sports is no doubt, a unifying factor and major element of human capital development, which is why our state will always support any programme aimed at assisting the growth and development of the youth.
“With sports, our youth will be meaningfully engaged. Asides supporting sports participation, we are also taking care of the facilities, as you can see that this famous facility, the ABS Stadium is wearing a new look.
The exercise at the Kaduna Centre will end tomorrow, Saturday June 27th, 2024, at the same venue, featuring other teams, as the match between the selected players and Rambo Football Acedemy ending the exercise by 4.00pm.
The Talent Hunt and Development Programme, which is being held in conjunction with international partners, was aimed at discovering and marketing over 30 players to Europe and other places yearly.
The programme will be held in the six geo-political zones, with Bauchi State hosting the North East edition between July 29th and 30th, Calabar hosting the South South edition between 2nd and 3rd of August, and South East edition holding in Owerri from August 5th to 6th.
The South West edition will hold in Edo-Ekiti from August 8th to 9th, with the grand finale, North Central edition yet to get a date.
The ABS FC Talent Hunt and Development Programme team has Jimoh Bashir as the Coordinator. Others are Owolabi Funmilayo (Administrative Secretary), Coach Salihu Yusuf, Tosh Michaels (Media Officer) and the Consultant, Phreestyle Sport Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Shogo Shodunnke (PTDP project consultant).
