Players of the Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan on Saturday were counseled and showered with hundreds of thousands of naira, at a breakfast meeting held with the team by the Ibadan Football Association (IFA) inside the Olubadan Stadium Hostel Hall.
The Chairman of IFA Barrister Rotimi Alli presented a cheque for #250,000 (two hundred and fifty thousand) naira to Oluyole Warriors. He said his presentation is in fulfillment of the pledge he made to the team last year that he would reward them if they returned to the NPFL.
A football enthusiast and big fan of Shooting Stars, Barr. Niyi Uthman advised the players to stay away from drugs saying as a professional athlete, it is important to maintain a body that is healthy and physically fit, by maintaining a drug-free lifestyle.
The legal practitioner said: “Drugs can have lasting effects on the brain and body. Using drugs often compromises judgment and physical abilities and makes a person unable to perform in a variety of contexts. It also diminishes health, physical appearance, and motivation. It impairs judgment, leading to risky decisions and behaviors, and it directly reduces physical and intellectual performance in many areas.
“I’m happy having this opportunity to speak to you guys today and as such will advise to be mindful of the kind of lifestyle you chose as a young athlete. We followed this club right from our younger days and we are still going to stand by the club.”
Uthman however gifted the team #100,000 (one hundred thousand naira) with a pledge to do more if the boys can maintain a good position in the premier league table.
Ex-Eagles and Brentford FC player, Jide Olugbodi also counseled the players and its technical crew on maintaining a winning mentality saying the technical crew should identify how to maintain a winning mindset for the players on a matchday.
“Shooting Stars is a big club and a movement of the south/west people, hence any player considered to wear the club’s jersey should count himself lucky and ready to give all because there’s always high expectations on the team.
“I believe every young football player wants to win; football is a game and we want to win games, hence first of all, a team needs to share the same values. Do we value respect for one another? Do we believe every person is equal? If we share the same values, we create a feeling of belonging to the team. As a consequence we will behave according to those shared values, so we will behave alike,” Olugbodi explained.
Olugbodi who was invited thrice to the Nigeria National team however gave Opeoluwa Olufemi the sum of #25,000 for being the team’s most consistent player while Gafar Olafimihan also got #25,000 as 3SC best striker and Highest Goal Scorer for the 2019/2020 season.
