… As Screening Exercise Enters Day Three
By Amaechi Agbo
Former Nigeria international, Edema Fuludu has hailed the foresight of the Bayelsa State Government in upgrading and expanding the Bayelsa Starlets Academy in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Bayelsa State Government and FC Barcelona.
Fuludu made this known during the Under-15 and Under-19 screening exercise organised to fortify the Starlets Academy with a view to affiliating it to FC Barcelona. The MoU was signed last week during the final of the season eight of the Prosperity Cup.
He noted that the only way for grassroots players to excel was to create a platform for them to get better, maintaining that the establishment of the academy would be a breeding ground for the state-owned team, Bayelsa United and other cadet national teams in the country.
Fuludu, who described grassroots as the foundation of football in any society, said the Bayelsa Starlets Academy would reduce restiveness among youths in the State because the youths would be positively engaged with the academy.
He expressed satisfaction with the turnout and the quality of players that showed up on day two of the exercise, pointing out that his team of coaches have identified an avalanche of talents during the exercise.
According to him, “over a hundred players took part in day two of the screening compared to day one that had seventy players comprising both U-15 and U-19 players”.
He explained that 39 players have been selected among the 100 players that came for the exercise, adding that one of the criteria for trimming down the number of players was age, because some of the players were above the age limit for the programme.
He further explained that the exercise is still open, that more players would join the exercise tomorrow, maintaining that at the end of the programme, 40 players would be selected, pointing out that those picked on day two could still be dropped if they fall short of the standard.
The exercise enters day three on Friday, 15th May, 2026 at the Samson Siasia Stadium with proceedings commencing at 10.00a.m.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
