PHCCIMA & Change The Game Project To Ease Visit of 20 Top American Coaches To PH For Talent Hunt

The Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA) in collaboration with a youth football promotional outfit, Change the Game Project will be facilitating the visit of twenty top America coaches to Port Harcourt to hunt for fifty talented young male and female footballers who shall be taken to America to study free in the universities and play football.

The programme set up newly by PHCCIMA is called End- to- End empowerment programme for the youths in Rivers State.

The essence is to ensure that youths are not only giving the skills needed but to ensure that they start their businesses, mentored to succeed and be of benefit to their families and the country at large.

The Play Football and Study Free in America project is one of the end- to- end empowerment programmes and is modelled for students between the ages of 15 to 19 years of age, males and females residing in Rivers state.

The programme is designed to eventually take the very intelligent, talented and successful ones to study and play soccer for the universities where they are expected to school in the United States.

The 20 top American coaches from American universities will be coming to hold the soccer camping from February 21st to 27th 2014 at the Liberation stadium Elekahia, Port Harcourt.

Renowned coaches like, Paulo Neto (head men's soccer coach, Shorter University), Michael Voss (women's soccer coach,
Grace College), Marcelo Antonelli (head coach women's soccer, Saint Francis University), Bobby McColl (head coach, Robert Wesleyan College), among others are expected to storm the garden city from the United States.  

Speaking to PHCCIMA media in an exclusive interview, the president of the Port Harcourt Chamber of commerce, industry, mines and agriculture (PHCCIMA), Engr. Emeka Unachukwu, said ,“we have identified sports as one major area we can use to empower our youths, not just empowering them like the kind of empowerment you see here but we give them the empowerment that can establish them, their families, their state and the country”.

“The Chamber is setting up the type of empowerment that we call End- to- End empowerment,  End to end empowerment has to do with not just giving you the skills ,it goes beyond this, it further  empowers you to start, mentor ship to succeed, what it means is that you have all the tools you need”.

He declared that the goal of the chamber was to ensure that jobs were created for the people and that those already established businesses thrive in the state and help the country to reduce unemployment.

Meanwhile five Nigerian students from the state are currently enjoying this programme in some universities in the US, says Surv. Emmanuel Ogbonda, Director of Entrepreneurship, Empowerment and sports.

According to him the programmehad started few years back but the chamber has taken it up to broaden it and give it more credibility.

“In the past they were taking one person every year but now we are taking up a large number, about 40-50 persons. Five persons have benefited, it will enable them to be useful without being used by the politicians of this country for issues of violence” Ogbonda was quoted as saying.

According to Ogbonda forms are available at the office of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, 11 Azikiwe road PH for interested participants or call 08069269217 0r 08036671873 for details.