BAYO Olanlege, the General Manager of Nationwide League One side, Phoenix Football Club of Ado Ekiti, in this chat during the week said winning the league or getting promotion is not the team priority but to give youths the platform to showcase their God given talents. The former Secretary of Ekiti United spoke on how they discovered Golden Eaglet star, Sunday Alimi, who now plays professional football with Lobi Stars Football Club of Makurdi.
Your team Phoenix FC will be campaigning in the Nationwide League One. How are you up to life in the league?
We're optimistic of posting starling performance in the league. Our coaches are doing their best to raise enough young talents that we believe will be successful with the project at hand.
I want to believe you are aware football is capital intensive. How do you hope to sustain the team in the Nationwide League One?
The most important thing is your passion, your interest and your focus. If you can believe, if you can conceive is it achievable, finance to me is an alibi, an excuse. When you have a set project the last thing that will worry you is about funds.
What are your plans, hopes and aspiration for Phoenix FC?
Our target is to get the raw diamonds, our plans is to put them into this phoenix and when they come out we want them out shining like the diamonds that everybody wants to connect and work with.
We've been able to get the raw diamonds and to us the league
is not the zenith is just part of the Phoenix. It is actually when we get the youths into international market and through them getting into the national under 17, under 20 or maybe when we go for international youths tournaments they are able to be scouted.
If you look at it very well, winning the league or getting promotion is not our own set objectives but it's just part of the Phoenix.
If not winning the league and gaining promotion is not your priority. Why are you in the league?
We're in the league to expose the boys, we're in the league to give the players competitive edge, we're in the league to let the boys actually have a feel of physical fitness, mental fitness and match fitness, that is what playing in the league will fetch our boys.
If we win the league that's an addition but playing in the league is the platform for us to get the boys match fit.
Your team discovered and nurtured Golden Eaglet star, Sunday Alimi, who now plays for Lobi Stars. How did you discovered him?
We discovered Sunday Alimi, in 2010, when we felt we don't have our normal Principal Cup in Secondary Schools. So we went to all the 16 Local Governments in the Ekiti State and we spoke with the chairmen and we staged ALGON Cup for 3 months and we picked the best players in the schools and camped them for 3 weeks at Ikere-Ekiti and we're very luck to be connected with people like Siji Lagunju, that believes so much in grassroots football and he picked the best 24 players and they were together for three weeks where we have the likes of Seun Jegede, Sunday Alimi, being part of the team.
We got Sunday Alimi from Principal Cup and many more of him who are now with Phoenix Football Club.
What does it mean to you seeing Sunday Alimi, your product playing in the Nigeria Professional Football League?
It's a thing of joy that inspires others. Like few days ago myself and one of our directors Engineer Femi Fateru, got a call from one of the giants of football administration in the country, Mike Idoko, calling to know who actually owns Sunday Alimi, and we actually told him Sunday Alimi, is someone we've known from age of 10, from where we spotted him in Iyin-Ekiti where he played for Eyimote Secondary School in the ALGON Cup and also went on to represent Irepodun/Ifelodun and there are so many more of this kids with us, almost 150 kids are with Fountain Youths Sports Club.
Fountain Youths Sports Club is the parent body of Phoenix FC, where we're monitoring this lads, we're using football to take the boys off the street and give them leadership training by bringing in Lions Club to talk with them and gave them leverage that they can become something in life, some of
the boys are academically sound and we've helped them to get admission into Universities and Polytechnics. Some weren't that good academically and decided to learn trade and vocational jobs and we have Lekan Rotaro, who is one of the best electricians around.
What does the future holds for Phoenix FC?
We intend to use Phoenix Football Club as a platform for youths to grow. If you look at Nigeria football system, where exactly is the platform for youths to grow? The Nigeria Professional Football League is for 32, 33, 34 year old players, hardly will you see 17 to 18 years players, apart from our boy Sunday Alimi, who is with Lobi Stars and that is why we have to give a lot of salutations to the coach and management of Lobi Stars, for putting a 17-year-old player in the first 11.
We don't want the players to be 28 years before they start playing in the league, we plan to use Phoenix FC as a platform and the oldest among our players will not be more than 18 and the youngest is 15. We intend to use it as inspiration for people like us that are buried in different places that if you have passion for football, is about time you start putting your money where your mouth is.
