Former Nigeria international basketball star Ejike Ugboaja has said that his foundation, the Ejike Ugboaja Foundation, is more determined to make popular America football in Nigeria.
Speaking during the foundation’s annual camp at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, Ugboaja says his foundation is prepared to collaborate with schools in the United States of America to expose more Nigerian talents to get scholarship from American colleges and also go on to play in the money spinning America Football League.
“The Ejike Ugboaja Foundation is my own little way of giving back to the Nigerian youths what I enjoyed growing up, though I never had the opportunity of playing in colleges as a basketball player but I am grateful for being the first player to be drafted by a National Basketball Association, NBA team when Claveland Cavaliers drafted me in 2006 from Union Bank basketball club in the Nigerian league.
“The foundation started out 13 years ago with basketball but added the American Football when we saw that there are kids who are not interested in basketball.
“We are determined to make the sport (America Football) popular and also ready to work with relevant stakeholders in the country to expand the scope of the sport by creating a league for it in Nigeria.
The week-long camp witnessed large turnout of young players who showed lots of promises in the sports with foreign coaches on ground to introduce the talents to the rudiments of the game.
Coach Rhett Lashlee from the Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas says he identify a lot of talents during the camp.
Coach Lashlee is confident that his school will accommodate some promising players he has identified to join his school.
The coach pay glowing tribute to Ugboaja for staging the annual camp which is of more beneficial to the Nigeria’s pool of talents.
“Our school will be interested in having more Nigerian players on our roster to join Nigerian-born Ike Danielson who is one of our top franchise player.