Nigeria Content Online

In line with its
objective of matching football with education, Pepsi Football Academy,
Nigeria’s first and biggest football academy is set to send some of its
students on a two-year scholarship scheme programme at the Brooke House
College in the United Kingdom.

Ian Nelson,
consultant to the academy revealed that 124 students within the ages of
10 – 18 years were drawn from the Academy centres all over the nation,
and will be available for selection under the scholarship scheme.
According to Nelson, the scholarship scheme is aimed at giving the
students international exposure, and an opportunity to play football
and study at the same time. Kasimawo Laloko, the academy’s director
added that the selection is a dividend of years of collaboration
between Pepsi Football Academy and some institutions in the UK, Asia
and the Americas. According to him, no fewer than eight students of the
Pepsi Academy have benefited from such scholarship scheme in the last
four years.

The selection process

The selection
process, which began from Monday June 28 will run through Friday July
2, 2010 at the Abeokuta Grammar School playing turf where the Nigerian
kids will be vying for the limited opportunities for the scholarship.
Already a three-man team from Brooke House College, UK which comprises
Giles Williams, the director; Ben Watts, the manager; and Luke Maher,
the Academy coach has arrived Nigeria for the exercise. The newly
selected students will join the four who are already in Brooke House
College on a similar scholarship.

Commenting on the scholarship selection exercise, Nelson said “This
is Pepsi’s way of exposing the young lads at the academy to
international football and training conditions while providing them
opportunity to study and play football.” The Pepsi Academy had in
recent past organized exchange schemes for her students with such
prestigious clubs as Manchester United, Chelsea Football Club, and
Bolton Wanderers, all in the UK. The Academy has also help produce
players for the national team, with players like Mikel Obi and Chinedu
Obasi been some of the many products of the academy.