Inspire Sports Academy clinches inaugural Mobil Naija
Inspire Sports Academy have been crowned champions of the inaugural Mobil Naija Cup, defeating a Mobil Selected Team 4-0 in the final held at the Inspire Sports Arena, Old NITEL
- By Ganiyat Mumuni
Inspire Sports Academy have been crowned champions of the inaugural Mobil Naija Cup, defeating a Mobil Selected Team 4-0 in the final held at the Inspire Sports Arena, Old NITEL Stadium, Oshodi, at the weekend, to claim the tournament's N5 million prize.
The competition, sponsored by Mobil Nigeria, drew no fewer than 150 youth teams from five zones — Lagos, Akure, Benin, Ilorin and Enugu — when the zonal playoffs kicked off on March 2, at the Inspire Sports Academy Pitch, Cappa, Lagos. The Under-16 tournament was designed to identify and nurture emerging football talent at the grassroots level.
The Mobil Selected Team was composed of standout players identified across the regional qualifiers — a mechanism introduced to ensure that talented players who did not advance with their original clubs still had a platform to compete at the highest stage of the competition.
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Individual awards were also presented at the final, with prizes for Most Valuable Player, Best Goalkeeper and other categories recognising excellence and motivating participants.
Former Super Eagles striker Victor Agali, who monitored the tournament, praised the quality of play, tactical discipline and technical ability displayed by the young players, describing the showing as a promising sign for Nigerian youth football.
"The performance reflects growing attention to coaching at the developmental level," Agali said, urging the players to remain focused and back their abilities despite the challenges ahead.
The ex-international, however, noted that Nigeria still lags behind Europe in grassroots development, citing inadequate facilities, poor infrastructure and limited corporate investment, and called for sustained private-sector commitment to talent development.
Managing Partner of Dare to Dream Sports Management Limited, Omobolanle Oshoba, who served as Project Manager and Consultant for the tournament, said the initiative was driven by the need to close the gap in grassroots football development and create a platform for undiscovered talents.
Oshoba added that the competition also functioned as a scouting platform, with exceptional players — including those from non-winning teams — identified and given pathways to progress.
The Manager of Lubricant Sales and Marketing at Mobil Lubricants Nigeria, Goriola Oladapo, described the tournament as a long-conceived project built around investing in youth through grassroots sport. He said Mobil Nigeria's partnership with Inspire Sports Academy was deliberate, pointing to the academy's record of developing young players and facilitating their movement to clubs across Africa and Europe.
