This year’s edition of the annual Coach Hycienth Nkwocha Youth Football Carnival is scheduled to take place on Sunday, December 14th at Legacy Pitch of Lagos National Stadium, Surulere.
This was revealed to Sports247 by one of the coordinators, Oscar Ezinwa Emmanuel, who noted that it is a bold effort aimed at ensuring that the memory of Coach Hycienth does not fade away.
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He disclosed further that the late icon made a huge name for himself as winning coach at the first edition of Traders Cup, tagged Trading Tackles, which he won with Moon & Star FC of Alaba in 1995, after a pulsating final at Onikan Stadium, Lagos Island.
The highly respected youth football expert and tactician then became first Coach of The Year winner at the 1999 edition of Annual National Grassroots Sports Awards (ANGSA ’99) in the conference hall of National Institute for Sports (NIS), Lagos.
That feat qualified the then head coach of Estate All Stars FC of Iyana Iba to become the pioneer technical director of a vastly popular youth development project, Community Action Through Sport (CATS), which was sponsored by The British Council at Government College Lagos, Eric Moore Road, Surulere from the year 2000 to 2009.
Among his products in the boys’ squad of CATS was Chima Uchechi, who was Nigeria’s assistant captain at Egypt 2009 FIFA U20 World Cup as well as Denmark-based winger, Riliwan Hassan.
The female team, which was the bedrock of the current CATS Ladies FC of Surulere, produced talents like Comfort Etim, Ogechi Oluehi and Chinasa Ukandu, among many others now based abroad and some current active referees in Nigeria Women’s Football League (NPFL).
Before his death in 2020, Coach Hycienth served as the technical director of Cowbell Football Academy, under the able leadership of Barrister Godwin Dudu-Orumen.
“The memory of Coach Hycienth must not fade away. That’s why I am happy that many of our former players in CATS always come together to organise this competition in his honour.
“I am also happy with the role played by our president and project director, Alhaji Agboola Dabiri, towards ensuring that all logistics for the competition are in place,” said Mr Oscar (aka TM).
