Africa-USA College Soccer Recruitment Tour (A-USA) has secured over half a million dollars for its
successful participants in its maiden edition. The program is designed to give young Nigerians an
opportunity to capitalize on their soccer skills and academic prowess in order to gain admission and
receive scholarships to top U.S universities where they can play football and obtain world class
education at the same time.
Speaking to the program founder and director, Abdul Oganla, “A-USA is a fantastic opportunity that will
change the lives of our student-athletes. They will not only be going to school but will also play
competitively while representing their schools. This gives them a huge shot at realizing their dreams of
playing professional football either in the Major League (MLS) here in the U.S or even crossing to
Europe.
Among those that were awarded scholarships include John Oshakpemhe and Temitope Aris Oluwatuyi
who will both be attending Lewis University in Illinois, Tolu Oladeinbo to University of Dayton, Ohio and
Mifdal Olopade heading to Cedarville University amongst others.
Some of the season 1 beneficiaries are already in the United States and have resumed in their respective
universities for pre-season. John Oshakpemhe, who was a starter in his university’s first novelty match
described the experience as surreal. “This is all I have always dreamt about. I only attended the A-USA
tryouts earlier this year in January and 7 months later, I am here in Chicago starting a wonderful career.
It is indeed a dream come true. I urge every football loving youth in Nigeria to grab this opportunity and
hold on to it. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Abdul Oganla who was recently a speaker at the Trade with Africa Business Summit in Chicago, Illinois
told business leaders from around the world how the program started and how it is strategically helping
to keep the Nigerian youth in school. “We saw from our data and feedback from our season 1
participants that a substantial number of the student-athletes are returning to school and are actually
staying in school because they know education is a requirement to be a beneficiary of our program.
We’ve seen participants return back to their secondary schools to write their senior certificate exams
and others taking SAT lessons and so on”, he said.
The second season is fast approaching and the organizers will be holding tryouts in Abuja, Enugu, Port
Haccourt, Ibadan and lagos. Catching up with the Program Manager, Mr. Kunle Ajayi about what to
expect from the program this upcoming season, he responded that the goal of the program is to give as
much opportunities to the budding talents we have in Nigeria. He also stated that the team is working
extremely hard to make sure many more student-athletes are able to become beneficiaries of the
scholarship program in the upcoming season.
To register for this once in a lifetime opportunity, you can visit the A-USA website at
www.ausaccess.com and click register to begin your journey to greatness.
