The pioneer of ball juggling and freestyle skills in Nigeria, Moses Amata took his youth development efforts to another level by motivating some students at Lagos National Stadium, Surulere.
Amata, whose biggest moment in juggling entertainment came at France ’98 World Cup, turned up as a guest at a friendly match and used the opportunity to educate the visiting students.
The privileged kids were from Will-B Excellence Secondary School, Ikotun, Lagos, who played a friendly against the academy of veteran coach, Solomon Adeshina (aka Scala).
Although the Will-B boys lost the game 2-0, with both goals coming under the first five minutes of play, they were motivated by Amata to see a silver lining behind their outing at Sports City.
The school’s coach, Cannavaro Obaro, and an accompanying teacher, Mr. Basil Nwoye also acknowledged that the instructions Amata barked out to the boys during the game and pep talk at halftime saved them from suffering a heavy defeat.
He then took his effort a step further after the game by getting the boys to sit in a half-circle and giving them a memorable lecture for free.
At the end of it all, Will-B School team captain, Ayomide Adeyemi admitted that he and his colleagues learned a lot from Amata’s speech.
Adeyemi added: “I am happy that we were able to play this match. It’s my first time coming to the National Stadium.
“We appreciate all of the people that hosted us and the people that spoke to us.
“Even our opponents’ coach spoke to us after the match and he encouraged us not to worry about the defeat.
“I learned three things from him – develop your ball control, be determined, and play as a team.
“He told us those are the most important aspects we need towards becoming a good player.
“This is a very memorable day for me and my colleagues. We thank God for making it possible and to our Uncle that arranged it. God will bless them for us. Thank you.”
