I am diving into an issue that will generate a whole lot of controversies and possibly name calling for weeks and months to come. As the caption suggests, some people might be taken aback as to why this article writer seems to be contented with the present age cheats for now, and why didn't he joined the other frontline age-cheat activists in condemning it.Age cheats in our underage football (sport) engagement no doubt is a bad venture and before now I have been an advocate against it, but I have since discovered that the more we talk about it, the more we become 'empty-barrels'. We talk about the problem all the time, whip-up sentiments; shore-up followers even indulge in name-calling without providing concise, realistic, time-based and cost-effective solutions to the problem. Each time we talk about the age-cheat issue, from the outside we are hailed but in the minds of those who are hailing us leave a trail of stale news, they have been hearing all the time.Age cheats have been with us for many years. With the results of my little research work and my interaction with the stakeholders involved, we might be grappling with this age cheat menace for many generations to come. I just discovered that about 98.5 percent of our real U-15 does not know the basic rudiment of the game, while about 75 percent of the real U-17 (who are exceptionally talented) still have issues with effective ball trapping, accurate shooting, dead-ball situations, positioning, strength and endurance, while virtually all of them are having issues with 100 percent concentration during matches, mental alertness (which is very important in building mental strength). Also about 99 percent of them do not know or eat the right combination of diet which will give them a proper growth and development they need.The deplorable pitch conditions do not help matters. More so many of them are faced with so much educational and economic pressures. While the latter is so much needed in football, the enormous disconnect between sport and education these days makes it hard to combine and achieve exceptional results in the two. Gone are the days when parents, guardian and care givers stop their wards from playing football; now they are encourage them, though, some of this encouragement is turning to some form of 'pressure' and this calls for a serious concern. This is why some parents can bribe their way for their wards to be included in a National under-age teams. Even the poor ones can go the extra length in pressurising their wards to rush them in taking hasty decisions that might put their career in jeopardy at the later stage.No doubt, this is not a good development for our football. That is why an average young footballer in 98 percent of countries in Africa does not believe in the 'charity begins at home' proverb but will rather want to start playing football from Chelsea, Arsenal, and Barcelona et al. The truth is that Europe is saturated; many of the European countries are looking inward to develop, mature and promote their own talents too.If Nigeria still goes ahead to present these real U-17 with the plethora of problems I enumerated above, we can be rest assured that majority of Nigerian football followers will not 'accept' them. That is why there is sharp difference between the quality of playing at the Shell Cup (which I am made to believe parades 98 percent real underage students) and FIFA or CAF organized under-age Competitions. Now the question: Is Nigeria going to continue the subtitle age cheat or damn the consequences to always present the real under-age with all the attendant problems they face' Or is there any other realistic solution the country can embark on rather than waiting for the Government to fix the economy first (which the latter is time consuming and not feasible for now)' It is obvious National underage coaches, football administrators and even virtually all Nigerians will settle for the first question, because our coaches will not want to lose their jobs, administrators will want to boast of 'trophies' they won and Nigerians will want to see good football artistry from this society.I have heard people talking about going back to the drawing board, start a football academy. Lofty are those ideas but they have not been able to solve the age cheats issue in its entirety. In the course of my research work, I discovered that a change of approach will solve this issue. The solution lies in Nigeria local football league. A top-down approach this time around will definitely do the magic for the country. It is obvious that Nigeria is a country that believes in miracles, but for every miracle, there are processes to it, which means for the country to completely eradicate age cheats in her system, every stake-holder must be actively involved.Fixing the football league entails raising viable football clubs. The latter makes up the league. The country is presently running a mediocre football league. Until the country fixes the fundamental problem facing the local football league, there is no guarantee of raising viable clubs. We have football clubs that barely survive on Government peanut subventions and cannot even attract sponsors.A viable football club will be in a vantage position to handle a football academies better because young wards in these academies are guaranteed fierce competition, steady development, graduation and integration into the main team as they meet a certain age and stage of life. This is the practice of clubs in Europe and some countries in South America, which is why they will continue to dominate Africa for now. No doubt, Africa has got the talent, more importantly Nigeria is blessed with abundant talent. So why can't our 'Charity begin at home'''Fapohunda wrote in via www.naijaleague.wordpress.com
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