We spoke to 19-year old Abdeen Abdul from Navan, who has taken a big jump towards his dream of being a professional footballer, thanks to Life Style Sports.
Earlier this year, ‘The Dream‘, a nationwide search for undiscovered young Irish football talent was launched by Life Style Sports. JOE togged out to try and make the grade before being told that 1) you had to be aged between 16 and 19 and 2) you had to have some talent. Ah well.
Players had to submit their 'Football CV' and the best 50 were invited to Carton House to show what they could do, with the ultimate prize being a chance to try out for a place at the Nike Academy in London. The Nike Academy is a place for the best unsigned footballers under 20 to learn their trade and in the past it has had the likes of Tom Rogic (now at Celtic) pass through on the way to being professional footballers. An impressive 30 per cent of Academy graduates make it as pros, so it a massive boost to budding players to get into the programme and learn how to live as a professional.
Putting the hopefuls for a shot through their paces at Carton House were a host of Nike Academy coaches, including ex-Irish international Kenny Cunningham, so the standards expected were very high indeed.
The players were tested across a range of speed, technique, pitch intelligence and conditioning challenges by the coaching team and Abdeen Abdul from Navan came out as the pick of the bunch. Check out the video below to see just what the players had to go through on a dirty old day in Kildare.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdqwOL1TZxM&feature=youtu.be
Abdeen will now travel to London, to the prestigious St George's Park, where he will hope to win the chance to spend a year at the Nike Academy under the tutelage of their fully qualified coaches. He also picked up tons of Nike training gear and a brand new pair of football boots of his choice from Life Style Sports.
We spoke to Abdeen to find out just what the opportunity meant to him. "I was thrilled, over the moon," he told us. "I was nervous when we started as I saw a lot of good players there, but when I got into it a bit more, I knew I had a chance.' He currently plays for Parkvilla in the Leinster Senior League and although he is a keen Liverpool fan, his favourite player is Yaya Toure. Not a bad player for the young midfielder/attacker to admire.
We also asked him if how his family would feel if he was to win the scholarship have to spend a year in London. "My parents are very supportive of me and they know that it has always been my dream to become a professional footballer. My mother always told me to have patience, to work hard and to believe in my ability."
Good news for Irish fans is that, although he has a Nigerian background, Abdeen wants to play for the Republic of Ireland if he does become a professional. "I have lived in Ireland my whole life and would love to represent them on the international stage. My parents support me on this and want what is best for me."
JOE tried to give him a dilemma when we asked how he would feel if Manchester United were to offer him a contract, but he took it in his stride and said "I am a fan of Liverpool, but I think any professional player in the world would find it hard to spurn the advances of a club like Manchester United." Smart boy.
Abdeen still has a way to go before achieving his dream, but he is well on the way and we wish him all the best.
Life Style Sports offers an extensive range of football boots, whether you want to look like, if maybe not play like, Ronaldo or Messi. With all positions, all surfaces and all levels covered, Life Style Sports has the perfect boot for every aspiring football star.
