Nigeria Pitch Award Nomination Thrills Olowookere

Flamingos head coach, Bankole Olowookere, is happy following his nomination as Coach of The Year at the ninth edition of the Nigeria Pitch Award.

The awards ceremony is scheduled for Abuja March 24.

This year’s edition has 18 categories of awards, which include King of The Pitch; Queen of The Pitch; Striker of The Year; Goalkeeper of The Year; Defender of The Year; Midfielder of The Year; Team of The Year; Coach of The Year; Sam Okwaraji Award; State With The Best Grassroots Football Development Programme; Football Pitch of The Year; Football-Friendly Governor of The Year; Corporate Sponsor of The Year; Sportsmanship Award; Football Journalist of The Year (Print); Football Journalist of The Year (TV); Football Journalist of The Year  (Radio) and Football Journalist of The Year (Online).

Olowookere is in contention for the best coach of the year alongside Rivers United’s Stanley Eguma and

Shooting Stars’ Gbenga Ogunbote.

Currently with Naija Ratel, Olowookere guided Nigeria’s U-17 women’s national team to a third-place finish after defeating European champions Germany 3-2 on penalties at the 2022 U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.

It’s the biggest achievement by the country at that level of football, having only managed a quarter-final finish since the competition began in 2008.

Speaking with reporters, Olowookere said he was delighted with his nomination.

“I feel so delighted, and this also makes me believe I still have more to offer my country, because of the ways I’ve been appreciated ever since. I and my wonderful team broke many records qualifying for the World Cup without losing any match and didn’t concede any goal after six matches.

“At the World Cup going through to the semi-finals, we also won the golden bronze, according to our honourable minister, for the first time in the history of Nigeria.

“This will be my seventh award if I eventually win, just a few weeks ago a national newspaper gave us an award for making Nigeria proud at the global event, this shows how Nigerians are passionate about football and success, especially our women and need more people to keep giving them support for the effort.”

Olowookere’s Flamingos were also nominated for the Team of The Year award.

Punch/Samuel Isaiah