The annual beach soccer tournament, COPA Lagos, organized
by Kinetic Sports has unveiled the first Lagos based beach soccer team – Gidi
Sharks.
This is the first time in the tournament that local
talents will be participating in COPA Lagos, which is set to hold from the 8th
to the 10th of December, 2017 at Eko Atlantic City.
Gidi Sharks who will be making their debut at COPA Lagos
2017 were selected by Swiss beach soccer veteran and FIFA Instructor, Angelo
Schirinzi alongside National Beach Soccer Coach, Adamu Ejo.
The team comprises of beach soccer talents from the
different parts of Lagos State. They were all selected during a talent scout
program sponsored by FCMB, Pepsi, Hero Lager and VisionScape. The selected
players will get the opportunity of a lifetime to play their first match
against the European club champions, Arsenal Beach Soccer team.
The Talent Scout gave an opportunity to find raw talents
and also gave them the chance to express their skills and beach soccer
abilities. From Takwa Bay and Badagry, 10 players were selected from each location.
From Ojo and Ebute Meta, 11 and 19 players were selected respectively. The 50
players were then pruned down to 23 provisional players, who will go through
intensive training in a two-week Boot Camp to be facilitated by Swiss beach
soccer veteran and FIFA Instructor, Angelo Schirinzi who will coach the players
for their first match at COPA Lagos. In camp, the first team made up of 10
players will be selected to play Arsenal BSC at COPA Lagos 2017.
In an interview, Angelo Schirinzi said, “Nigeria has
potential in football and it can be seen at every street corner. We intend to
make them professional players.”
Samson Adamu, the Managing Director of Kinetic Sport
while speaking to reporters recently, said, “We brought in one of the best
coaches in the world to scout for players in from different parts of Lagos.
Beach Soccer is one of the fastest growing sport in the world and we seek to
take an early entry advantage.
"I believe we have a good number of beach soccer
talents; we are a country with a huge passion for soccer and most people have
been playing soccer on sand from a young age. Our goal is to develop a beach
soccer league and we are starting with Gidi Sharks, using them as Ambassadors
who will develop beach soccer teams in their respectively communities.
“Every edition of COPA Lagos brings a unique offering and
this year’s tops the excitement, not only with the regular feature of sport,
music, dance, fashion, fans’ zone and celebrity entertainment but also, the introduction
of a Female Celebrity Match and the “Lagos-based” beach soccer team, Gidi
Sharks, who will be playing their first match against Arsenal beach soccer team.”
This year’s edition of COPA Lagos promises to be a more
engaging and fun filled experience for all.
COPA Lagos is proudly sponsored by FCMB, Pepsi, HERO
Lager and VisionScape
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