About Us

Ndame Football Academy (NFA)

In 2018, Ndame FA was formed with the utmost aim of giving back to the local community. It was the vision of the original founders to establish a football academy that will also serve as a citadel for learning, where well established coaches will provide a unique training program specifically designed for young people that brings together the core aspects of football into a complete system of technical, tactical, psychological and physical development within an exciting and educational atmosphere.

Growing up in Nigeria, it was easy to understand and acknowledge the challenges young footballers go through in their quest to carve out a better life for themselves within the profession. One of the those challenges is the financial investment needed to move their careers to their aspired level. With such in mind, Ndame FA ensures that anyone that is recruited as part of the academy does not have to worry about the financial challenges, simply because the academy has a robust policy that allows for the overall assumption of the financial responsibility of all the football related engagement of all members.

Location 

Although, Ndame FA is officially registered as a company based in Warri, its day to day activities are carried out in Kwale. Key factors such as access to affordable training facilities, and proximity to qualified trainers make Kwale a well deserved location for the academy. More importantly, the Director of Ndame fa ( Festus Odigwe) is originally from Kwale. Festus Odigwe sees Kwale as a perfect location for development of a more centralised program. Kwale is a beautiful city in Ndokwa West local government area of Delta State. The people from the community and its environs are known to be passionate about football, education, and politics.

Aims and Objectives

Like every prospective football academy, the aim of Ndame FA is to train and develop young footballers in a fashion that enhances their marketability. The players are provided with programs of coaching and learning that values an individual’s progress and guides them to be the best they can be within a professional and challenging setting. The business model of the academy centres around the transfer of the playing members to prospective clubs in Europe. Players can also be loaned out to reputable clubs in the higher levels of the Nigeria Football League as a platform to gain experience in league football before their trials in Europe.

In order to achieve our aims, our set objectives are outline below:

Firstly, we recognise the challenges and high level of competition in Europe. Hence, the significance of providing the right technical, physical, and psychological training and support necessary to excel in trials abroad. Our coaches are well qualified and experienced in their areas of expertise. Players go through different stages in their preparation; first, they go through various programs in Kwale, thereafter, they are sent to our affiliate academy in Lagos State for 2 -3 months for top level physical and tactical training before traveling for trials abroad.

Secondly, Ndame FA works in partnership with some of the best talent scouts in Nigeria. Our scouts comb through both near and remote areas of Nigeria in search of young talented football players. The scouted players are offered the opportunity to join our camp in Kwale.

At Ndame Football Academy, we understand the significance of building a positive business relationship with all stakeholders including our competitors. Hence, we operate a “Coopetition Strategy”. This is a strategy that comprises a network of stakeholders and competitors working with each other to acquire the highest value. We believe that by being competitive and cooperative with our competitors at the same time, we can achieve mutual benefits and also expand our business to new horizon with increased knowledge and information of the football business. With the above strategy in mind, we ensure that other football academies with young talented players are invited to our scouting programs. We have developed working relationship with other competitive academies, this relationship is guided by a negotiated agreement that clearly represents the interest of all parties.

Playing Squad

Currently, Ndame fa groups its playing squad into two categories:

The Under 14s – 18s: this group is the core of Ndame fa, and their development is crucial to the existence of the academy. These players undergo high level professional tactical and physical training, and they are frequently tested with challenging high level friendly and competitive games. Fast improving players are sent out on loan to interested clubs that play in higher divisions of the Nigeria Football League. Subsequently, they are called back to join the ‘The Travelling Group’.

The Travelling Group: these are the players who have shown the greatest potentials in readiness for football trials. This group comprises of players from Ndame fa, as well as players scouted from different parts of the country. Majority of them are selected from our opponents’ teams in competitive games played against them. In our scouting programs, these players play under the banner of Ndame fa. The games are covered by our experience cameraman, then the highlights of the players that performed to the required standards are produced and sent out to our partners abroad.

 

Cooperate Social Responsibility ( CSR)

Ndame fa and its relevant stakeholders understand the absolute significance of contributing positively in their areas of operations. As a business, we are committed to contributing to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve the quality of life, mostly in ways that are good for business and good for development. Relatively, we tend to operate in an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable manner, whilst balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders. It is a fundamental principle of Ndame fa to ensure that we set out programmes in the communities we operate, that contribute to the development and enhancement of the people that live in those communities, especially their youths. Basically, we see CSR as an avenue to consider the impact of operations on the society and affirm our principles and values both in our internal methods and processes and in our interactions with other actors.

As earlier stated, Ndame fa was formed with the intention of giving back to the community. Therefore, it is a matter of principle for us to engage in voluntary activities that go beyond prescribed laws. We classify our CSR engagements into different categories and their actualisation is vehemently based on the revenues gained from the successful transfer of players:

Scholarship and Apprenticeship Programme: we intend to provide scholarship up to university level for some of our playing staff and selected members of the communities we operate. Apprenticeship programmes will also be in place for those that are willing and able to learn other practical skills. These programmes create opportunities for those involve and also enhance their employability or success in other endeavours outside of football.

Provide financial assistance for selected women to start their own small businesses: the parents of some of our playing staff stand to benefit more from this. However, few selected women within the community can also benefit from this programme.

Accommodation for parents of the players from poor background: we understand that some of our football players come from very poor background. Hence, we ensure that we provide accommodations for parents of some of the players that fall within the criteria.