The Spark Magazine (Jun 2018)

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The Spark | Ignite/Connect/Achieve www.thesparkng.com Seye Ogunlewe Going for Gold Seye Ogunlewe is a Nigerian track and field sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He won the Irish Schools Championships in 2009 and 2010. Afterwards, he was encouraged to make it a profession. He believes God gave him the talent and his passion, hardwork and pursuit placed him on the career path he’s on now. He was encouraged by his Dad to represent Nigeria and as a Nigerian himself, he decided to follow through. This interview reveals Seye’s journey and his perspective on winning - By Toyin Eleniyan According to Seye, A lot of us are not fully educated on sports. “Sports is actually science and the more you learn, the better you become at your craft,” he stated when asked about how upcoming athletes can improve. Sports As A Source of Empowerment “The youth are the voice of Nigeria and our voices need to be heard. Nigeria’s population is made up of mostly the young people,” he stated. Sports has been a source of empowerment to him because it has given him a big platform to voice his opinions and stand up for people who ordinarily would not be heard. For other athletes, he believes sports is for all and cuts across boundaries. To him, as long as you do well, you can change your life and impact your community. Getting Started “Like studying to be an Accountant or Lawyer, sports require you to study the right courses which a lot of universities abroad or online courses offer,” he stated. He believes that achieving success in the industry requires a lot of investment just like capital in a business. There is a lot of money that goes into being an athlete, from spikes, coaching fees, supplements, travelling to races and track training. Nothing is free! Sports is a viable tool for economic growth. It is an important sector which needs heavy investment not only from the government but the private sector. They need to work hand in hand to grow the industry. He further explained that sports roles in general are always high in demand. Different sports have different wage structures. For example, a football coach would get paid a lot more than an Athletics coach. The Solution Seye believes that the leaders in the industry should focus on funding the sports sector, building facilities and creating a robust system. “Nothing can be done overnight but If I were the Minister of Sports, I would ensure there is a grant scheme just like the National Lottery in the UK which allocates funds to different sectors including sports.” “ Sports is a viable tool for economic growth. It is an important sector which needs heavy investment not only from the government but the private sector. “ On Winning When asked about challenges in the industry, Seye stated that the country doesn’t have enough world class facilities with well run programmes that meet global standard as a lot of our athletes need to relocate to improve and our federations don’t set long term plans. “Nigerian Athletes need financial support, facilities and corporates to back them. Like any profession, you work with your talent to get the rewards,” he further stated. Seye hopes that other brands, asides UBA which has been very supporting, will come on board to support the vision of representing Nigeria on a global stage and winning medals. 24 @thesparkng
www.thesparkng.com The Spark | Ignite/Connect/Achieve Leon Balogun Going for Gold Leon Balogun is a German-born Nigerian professional football defender who was first called up by Nigeria for a March 2014 friendly against Mexico. He started playing football at a tender age and after several years of progress moved on to play for a Premier League club in England. - By Toyin Eleniyan Leon is a music lover. In his spare time, he prefers to listen to music, read books, play games or hangout with friends. As a child, he was very active and talented and played football because most of the boys were playing it. However, he didn’t enjoy watching football and was only curious about the world cup because he got to see big stars. Although he was very good at basketball, his interest in football came up later when he was about 10 years old. Leon believes that the biggest mistake budding footballers can make is impatience and giving up on their dreams. “I think a lot of young players want too much too early,” he stated. “They focus on the benefits, instead of really working for them. There are players that are gifted and talented, so everything falls into their laps, more or less, and they tend to be a bit lazier sometimes than players who have to work harder. That is something almost every coach told me; hard work always beats talent and I think great players or great and successful characters throughout history will tell you the same thing as well. So, don’t underestimate work even if you are very talented, because it will get you farther”. Leon believes that youth empowerment is necessary as it is very important to give young people some kind of hope and vision, telling them where they can go and what they can achieve in life. Leon has always picked and looked up to people like Thierry Henry, Muhammed Ali, Mike Tyson, Ronaldinho, etc. For him, he wanted to accomplish the same things that they were able to accomplish. In sports, especially football, he believes that with hard work and consistent training, you get to envision and imagine for yourself what professionals have achieved in their careers. In his career, he looks up to Lebron James and Christiano Ronaldo - two perfect examples of hard work and dedication. He believes it is good to get insight from what other successful people do in order to learn from them. “As a footballer, I think there are different doors that open up but I think it depends a lot on your character,” he stated. “Concerning other aspects of sports that footballers can look into, for me, I’m more interested in the psychological aspects of sports.” He believes more can be done for the players with respect to mental health and self-confidence as there’s usually a lot of stress and pressure felt. The industry is vast and some might want to be agents, club managers or run their own businesses, but it all depends on character. Once you reach a certain level, you get to meet certain people and several doors open. According to Leon, regardless of the path you take, it is always good to have some qualifications because nowadays, you have to show people something, so they can see what you have accomplished and trust you enough to give you your request. @thesparkng 25
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The Spark Magazine (Jun 2018)

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