CitySports Africa gears up for 5th anniversary

Sports giants CitySports Africa look set to roll out the drums as the company prepares to mark its 5th anniversary in its ongoing efforts to help fill the huge gap in global sports development.

In a media briefing held at CitySports Corporate headquarters, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Tuesday, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Shola Opaleye, said City Sports was driven by the desire to cultivate a global landscape where sports act as a dynamic force for positive transformation, uniting diverse individuals and communities in a shared journey towards development, empowerment, unity, and unparalleled opportunity.

Opaleye added that the vision behind the creation of CitySport was geared towards the will to globally empower individuals and communities through sports by providing access to comprehensive resources, elite training, competitive platforms, global networking, and transformative opportunities.”

The organisation started in December 2019 because we felt there was a huge vacuum in the sporting sector and the sports development process,” he said.

“We had the idea of just putting things right as they should be to help develop students, so we put a place together to develop students as well as coaches. We believe you cannot have a good sports development without the right kits, tools, and facilities. City Sports went into all of these to make sure we develop students adequately.”

Soon after that, we added other sports, and between 2019 and now, we have gone into other sports. We know football is the most popular sport, but now there are athletics, basketball, swimming, as well as tennis.”

We believe there are three major levels in sports development: grassroots, academy, and professional. Also, in February this year, we formed Citysports FC, and we played in the NNL 1, where we had our first season four months ago. Basketball is the closest one that we plan to work on and have a basketball professional side as well. Athletics and swimming are also coming on board,” he said.

Opaleye added that the company is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that every African child is given the right opportunity to showcase their talents and fulfil their dreams in life.”In the past five years, we have been focussing on the right route to develop sports skills, leadership skills, and academic skills because these are the basic three skills every child needs to attain their potential as they grow up.”

“Our vision is to contribute immensely to our quota to the development of sports in the country and beyond to give every child the right environment and the playing field to achieve their dreams.

“We have three success stories of students who are now doing great in their craft after going through CitySports developmental programmes namely: Osaze, a 14-year-old footballer who is currently with Arsenal. Duke is doing well at Hully City U-19 side while one of our products is in Super Falconets,” Opaleye said.