Coach Anthony is a passionate grassroots coach who works with Juventus Academy Nigeria to develop young players across all age groups.
He works with U7, U13, U15, and U19 age groups, and his motivation is to build and develop young players. In his own words, “Growing up, football has been my passion, and as we all know, we are in an environment where we all love football as kids. As a coach now, I am trying to go back in time and see how much I struggled growing up and not being able to live my dream due to different challenges. In my little way, I am trying to guide the players and help them find the right path to discover and live their own dreams with my experience from my own journey when I used to play.” He told Sports247.ng.
According to Coach Anthony, the Juventus Academy is focused on player development, but they also participate in international tournaments like the just-concluded Juventus World Cup that was held in Italy in early June. All players from the academies across the continent gathered together to play for a trophy, and if any player gets scouted, then it is a dream come true for that player. “The academy is a place where we develop players and give them the opportunity to get scouted abroad. Currently, we do not have any player that has gotten any major deal abroad, but in the future, who knows. Something always comes up in this industry,” says Coach Anthony.
The Juventus Academy has two centers, one at Lekki where they train on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the other one at The Stables, Surulere, where they train on Saturdays and Sundays.
As a grassroots coach, Coach Anthony’s joy would be to see one of the players he has worked with excel and do well for themselves playing professional football at the highest level. He believes that this is the greatest joy for every grassroots coach. In his own words, “My joy would be to see one of the players I have worked with excel and do well for themselves playing professional football at the highest level. That would be the greatest joy for me as a grassroots coach.”
When asked about his advice for upcoming coaches, Coach Anthony said, “It is quite different for everyone. If I get to see someone who is passionate about football and developing young people like me, I would tell them to try to push beyond their limits because it is going to be very frustrating working with young talents, and we know how it is in this setting where we can barely get them to commit.”
Coach Anthony has a passion for tech as a side hustle. If he was not into football, he would have been a techie.
