15 finalists emerge in MTN Football Scholar

Some of the Finalists after the SAT Exam on Sunday, in the Middle is the Project Cordinator, Tom DeMao from United States

Fifteen successful candidates have finally written the last SAT Examinations, to prepare them for the United States University accreditation.

The examination that took place at the American International School in Victoria Island, Lagos on Saturday, November 10 saw the young lads beaming with the hope of becoming renowned football stars while studying in an American University.

One of the youngsters, Samson Isaac, a 2011 graduate of Kings College Lagos expressed great optimism in passing the examinations, with flying colours as well as securing a place in an American University. “For coming this far, it is by God’s grace, out of hundreds of us that started this journey, I am part of the finalists; this is an act of God. All the same, I believe I possess both the football skills and intellectual capacity to succeed,” he said.

Football Scholar is a youth programme sponsored by telecommunications giant MTN with the aim of discovering talents that can combine active football and education, at the tertiary level, within a scholarship scheme.

The project is open to students within the age bracket of 15 and 18 and is a platform for the discovery, nurturing and exposure of budding soccer talents who will subsequently enjoy access to scholarship opportunities to soccer-oriented Universities in the United States.

This year’s edition kicked-off in May with try-outs, in seven cities of Port Harcourt, Enugu, Akure, Benin, Abuja, Ilorin and Lagos. Selected participants proceeded to the Academy, where they got intensive football training and academic teaching under the watchful eyes of top-rated Nigerian coaches and a group of American soccer academies. The finalists will be attending soccer-oriented American Universities for degree courses, in due course.