CitySports Africa, on Friday, September 5, hosted its first-ever Coaches Code seminar in Lagos. Held at the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Ikeja, the event urged grassroots coaches across the country to move beyond the ‘culture of winning at all costs’ and adopt an all inclusive definition of success that prioritises players’ development, integrity and professionalism.
Titled, ‘Redefining Success: Building Coaches Who Build Lives, the seminar attracted about 25 participants, including grassroots coaches, academy owners, and sports stakeholders to discuss the challenges facing Nigerian sports and the role of coaches in shaping both skills and character of young athletes.
The CEO of CitySports Africa, Mr. Sola Opaleye, delivered the keynote address with the theme, ‘Building Coaches Who Build Lives: Shifting the Narrative from Wining to Developing’.
He said the seminar was designed to celebrate coaches who work tirelessly and to provide them with a platform to express themselves while filling competence gaps in the sector.
In his speech, he explained the word ‘code’ in ‘Coaches Code’ represents principle, new standard, and a cultural shift in defining success within the sports ecosystem.
Opaleye said the three pillars of the coaches code are: integrity, development first, and professionalism. He stressed that coaches must see winning not simply as amassing trophies but as building discipline, resilience and confidence in their players.
He urged coaches to continually ask how they could contribute to the lifelong development of their players and warned against age cheating.
The CEO went on to outline what he described as the four powers of coaches, saying these unique responsibilities make them some of the most influential figures in the lives of young athletes. First, he said, coaches hold the power to shape how young people view discipline, teaching them consistency, commitment, and self-control.
They also shape athletes’ perception of failure, showing them that setbacks are a path to improvement and not the end of the road and coaches influence how players respect authority, ensuring that they grow into individuals who understand structure and accountability.
He concluded by saying coaches help young people believe in themselves, a power that goes beyond sports and transcends into the broader aspects of life.
According to him, “your winning is what you make of your players, individually. Winning is not at all costs, it is about asking, ‘what more can I offer this player’?”
He explained that the pursuit of winning should always be centred on the individual’s growth rather than just the collection of trophies.
The seminar also featured a panel session moderated by Naomi Offiong, during which coaches spoke candidly about their experiences. They discussed pressures from parents and scouts, interference from academy owners, and the conflict between club executives who demand immediate results and coaches who want to focus on long-term development.
Club owner and coach, Sulaiman Babajide, said talented children from less privileged backgrounds, sometimes, outshine others but may lose opportunities owing to pressure from more affluent parents who demand preference for their wards.
On how, the seeming obsession with trophies affects development, Coach Emmanuel asked whether coaches are truly interested in their players’ growth or merely feeding self-ego. He described the win-at-all-costs mentality as the country’s major sporting problem, saying the only time a coach truly loses is when lessons are not learnt from setbacks.
