After a very long thought and planning and procrastination, I decided to build a website along with my few projects I am working on, I had thought there will be no need for me having a personal website again since I had it before and did not do much with it but after reading a couple of books and following a lot of successful entrepreneurs on the internet and seeing how they operate. I feel there is always a need for me to separate my person as an individual from the company’s and dreams I am building for the world so I there say welcome to my website and I am excited that you have the time and opportunity to visit this blog.

I am hopeful you will get to know the type of person I am, what I do on a day to day basis, what book I am reading, what new experience I gained and the exciting places I have visited and will be visiting on this website from now on. Once again I say welcome to my world.

I am sure you will have read a lot about me on the website from the about tab and if not just click here for a little info about Bayonle Arashi. At the moment I am fully focused on rounding off my book titled Road Map to a successful football career, a book I have been working on since 2015, Yes 2015 but there have been so many delays in completing this book, this year however as I am going to turn 40 in June, I decided it’s about time and I had promised myself to complete the writing of the book, publish and start selling as a 40th birthday gift for myself so this has been the major inspiration for me. Today Monday happened to be one of those days I am opportune to have a few hours to myself so I had spent a couple of hours on it today and I was happy with how far I went with it. I was constrained to write this book after many years as a football academy administrator and before becoming an administrator, I have spent some 10 years covering the game of football across Africa and have the opportunity to travel to two FIFA world cups, Germany in 2006 and South Africa in 2010.

Bayonle Arashi in Germany

I have also gathered a lot of experience since my relocation to the United States in early 2015 as a Football (Soccer) Referee with the United States Soccer Federation and also a licensed youth football coach.  My decision to work on the book comes as a result of many questions, emails and personal discussions with young and professional players on their challenge in securing a professional trial without all the hassle and falling of victims into the hands of dodgy football agents. I have a story about dodgy agents but that is not for today.

I hope the book will be available soon on all book stores online and offline and hope you will get a copy and read to learn the basics of the dos and don ts’ as you grow and aspire to become a professional football player. I am passionate about helping people especially football players who most of the time are ignorant of asking the important questions and taking the necessary steps by themselves rather than depend on anyone to do it for you. I PROMISE YOU THAT THE BOOK IS AN EYE OPENER if you have the patience to read it.

Let me stop here in the meantime and I hope to blog about different issues as I feel it is important and share a lot if information with my followers and friends. You will read everything Football or Soccer as we call it in this part, you will also read about latest technology trends as long as it is informative and provide opportunities for my followers. Some of my blogs will come in video format so get ready and lets enjoy every bit of this journey.

I care about you guys and I will be back shortly. Questions? follow me.

Have an amazing week.LikeShareTweetLinkedIn

Have you ever woke up from bed one morning and felt so good about yourself just because you completed an enormous task that even you could not imagine can be done? Well, that was precisely how I felt on the morning of April 29 which was a Wednesday. I felt this because I achieved one of my biggest goals that I have been working on since 2012. I successfully published my book titled Road Map to a Successful Football Career on Amazon and ordered the first 20 copies for myself.

You may want to ask, why is the book necessary and why did it take so long to work on?

I wrote the book due to 20 years plus experience as a broadcast journalist covering football and as a football academy administrator who has had the chance to take players to trials and international tournaments in Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Tunisia, and South Africa to mention a few. I  have also had the privilege of working in one of the most organized football associations in the world the US Soccer Federation as a referee and youth coach. I get tons of emails from players in Africa, South America and some European countries asking if I was an agent and if I can help them to get a trial opportunity overseas.

Then I know if I didn’t do something about this, many more players will be misled, swindled and many careers will be cut short so I decided to start work on it gathering data and specific information that will work if well executed.

I had to make sure every information in the book is practicable and can be achieved by anyone who truly desires to achieve success in the game, I was also seeking opinions of football leaders that I had the pleasure of knowing back then. One of the early reviewers of the book is Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi the Lagos State Football Association Chairman and Vice President of Nigeria Football Federation,

Have you been thinking of how to go from playing in the streets to playing at the biggest stadium overseas?

Don’t know what academy you need to join to get scouted?

How to contact scouts and football clubs directly?

Or you want to know how to get a football (soccer) scholarship into Colleges and universities in the United States and Canada?

All this information and more are what has taken me 8 years to put together for you and it is available in this book.

Road Map book details the What-To-Do and How-To-Do that will make your dream of becoming a professional soccer player a reality, It also provides information on how to find a college or university scholarship to study and play the game in countries that offer such opportunities. More importantly, the book makes you know the difference between a football academy and a football club in detail.

For example, I get this question from players every time they enquire about joining my academy. Are my going to get paid?

The answer to this question is always NO, As an academy player, no one will pay to teach you how to become a better player than you are, it is actually the other way round. It is the price you have to pay for your ultimate goal.  So if you have kids between ages 7 up to 16 years old, quickly order a copy of this book for them as a wonderful parent should, I also urge every lover of football to own a copy.

You will also find in the book the Red light to look out for when you are being approached by anyone claiming to be a scout or an agent to a football club or promised to take you to some country, that you have to pay some amount of money to make this happen. It also provides information on how to identify a genuine football agent who has your interest at heart, it Xrays how a football contract works, what you need to do to brand yourself, how to attract a scout, agents, or coach to show interest in you and many more.

The biggest offer for owing the book is the contacts, phone numbers, email, and website of over 2000 college and club coaches in the United States and other countries that I am offering for free after your confirmed purchase of course. 

As one of my mentors always says, YOUR DREAM IS POSSIBLE but you have to work the talk, you can say this affirmation 1 million times a day and it will like magic but your actions must match your word. Keep training hard, give your best always and make sure you get self-knowledge which is what this book is offering you. Nothing more powerful than a man with knowledge. So whether your dream is to become the next Messi or Ronaldo? or you just want to play in the Scandinavian league and make a decent living? or you have a good school grade and you want to go to school overseas and still play the game you love.

Buy and read Road Map to a Successful Football Career.

Bayonle Arashi, to your success. I look forward to your reviews.LikeShareTweetLinkedIn

The subject of my blog this week might feel or sound somewhat to you but this is the exact thought that has been on my mind in the last few days as I have continued to work very hard in promoting my book Road Map to a Successful Football Career selling on Amazon and of course good news; The book is now selling at bookstores in Nigeria.

The past week has been filled with lots of activities regarding the book and creating awareness across every platform that is offering me an opportunity to come and talk about it, about what inspires me to write such a book at this time, I have always said to anyone that cares to listen or ask why I have to go through that stress according to them for the generation that doesn’t read, I am hoping the youths will not confirm this unbelievable notion that the older generation has of them. Someone mentioned that his observation for a while now is that most of these teenagers are not interested in going through the process of making their dream a reality, that they want everything fast but I vehemently disagree with this individual.

Start Reading- Bayonle Arashi

I was on a live Facebook session via the page of an old friend and colleague based in Manila Philippines named The Parrot Post with over 14,000 followers a few days ago, you can watch the video via this link. Though it was watched live by only 4 persons at the time of writing this blog the viewing is over 800 and hopefully it will gain more traction with the sharing of the link on this blog. Why did I mention this, the fact that only 4 people had the time to watch the live video on a page with over 14k followers most of them teenagers tend to support the statement made by that my friend above. That our youths are not seeking knowledge on how to make themselves better and walk an easy path to their career when someone that has gone through what they are about to go through is giving them an opportunity to get there faster by owning a book of fewer than 100 pages and read so their journey could be smooth.

So I ask again, how do we make our youths become readers?

For me, I do not intend to stop anytime soon with my intention of preaching the right path to this younger generation, my dream is to make sure the book gets into the hands of 1 million people between now and the next 12 months. How this will happen? I have no perfect plan yet but I have got an idea which I am sharing a few here.

I have been reaching out to some reporters with large followership in the United States and other countries via Twitter to let them know the importance of this book for young people growing up with the love of the game, in the United States, for example, I found out there are 4.2 million players (2.5 million male and 1.7 million female) registered with U.S. Soccer. As of 2012, about thirty percent of American households contain someone playing soccer, a figure second only to baseball. Increasing numbers of Americans, having played the game in their youth, are now avid spectators.

with the stats above I believe my dream of selling a million copies of the book in 12 months is a reality just that there’s a lot of work to be done so in case you come across this blog and you know someone that can help with their platform to make this book known to the general public, do it for me, please.

The other thing I am working on at the moment is to make the book become a digital training course where the same information in the book will be presented via a video and let as many young people across the world that are soccer lovers to have access to it and go through the process of them achieving the ultimate aim of becoming a football success. This is very necessary at this time as not many people are aware that the effect of the current COVID 19 pandemic has had on the game is huge and that football clubs across the world will start adjusting their pocket and looking for better and more affordable ways to keep their clubs or school programs afloat.

One of the major areas of change will be that everyone will start looking inward. European clubs will be more interested in signing a European player that may not be as talented as a Brazillian but because the homegrown player will be affordable and easy to manage than his foreign counterpart. This will go across every other league in the world. I predict it will be like this for the next 24 months so for you as a player in any part of Africa, Europe, Americas, or Asia hoping to jump on the next flight when the whole pandemic is over and a vaccine is found. THINK AGAIN because it is not going to happen.

Now is the time to start looking for opportunities around your continent and the only way you will be aware of what you need to do is to constantly seek knowledge, read my book and follow me on all social media platforms @bayonlearashi because I will be sharing what you need to do to get you where you need to be in your career.

You can order for Road Map to A Successful Football Career on Amazon or via Epokbooks in Nigeria. Amazon will ship the book to you in any part of the world you are here is the link to order on Amazon

I look forward to sharing more updates with you in the next few days as I am shifting a little attention to my other company’s Midas Football Academy with a great announcement coming soon as well as finally creating the MVP of ScoutBallers.

You can always reach me via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for any questions or advice, and remember that when you get a copy of Road Map, you will receive from me the database of over 2,000 football contacts at U.S Colleges and Clubs in different parts of the world.

To your success.

Bayonle Arashi

Today February the 7th 2020 makes it exactly 5 years since I landed in the beautiful city of Atlanta in the state of Georgia to begin a journey I had no idea or thought of where it is going to take me. It was a straight 14 hours flight from Lagos to Atlanta and a more or less easy entrance into the country after a brief interview by the immigration officer at the Port of entry.

I looked back as I woke up to go to work this morning with so much nostalgia but thankful for the exact point I am at the moment while looking forward to a bigger adventure ahead. There have been many nights of tears, pain and as I put it on my social media post earlier coulda woulda shoulda but in all I give thanks. The toughest of it all is not seeing and holding the four beautiful angels God granted to me to father Ayomide, Ayomiposi, Oluwasemiloore, and Iremide in my arms for the past five years. I am grateful still that social media gave me the opportunity to be in constant communication with my girls and we do make it up with WhatsApp video calls every weekend or as much as time permits.

My Girls

I have too many memories of the last five years to share but will share a few here now while hoping to put the rest in a book along with other experiences I am still going to gather in the future. I will, however, share some personal experiences and appreciate some specific people that have helped me to get to the current place I am.

Prior to my relocation to the States in 2015, I have always wanted to have a home outside of my home country of Nigeria but I never thought a certain circumstance will make it happen when I least expected.

I own and operate a football academy in Nigeria which happens to be one of the best in Nigeria to date and basically what we do is to recruit the youngest and best football players across the country, develop them and help them to make a career out of the game. Our plan also go beyond just turning out great football players but to make them useful as men in society just in case their talent is not enough for them to make playing the game work for them, I am a huge advocate of vocational education because I passed through the stage and I know the huge edge it helped to propel my career so we always offer to every newly registered player of the academy to choose what career path they will like to pursue apart from just training and developing their football talents.

We have a big vision for the future to build proper infrastructure and give between 50 to 150 young African and Nigerian youth an opportunity to make their dream a reality either by becoming a successful football player or becoming an Entrepreneur creating business for others to emulate.

The story, The academy had resumed in January 2014 as we usually do, had a meeting with the two coaches on the academy payroll and strategized on plans for the year. The plan was to make sure we take our team to Europe that summer for a trial camp and let the players have an opportunity to explore a bigger career opportunity. The academy had previously taken teams to youth tournaments in Europe and North Africa but in 2014 we had the option of Turkey. I have no partner in the Turkish football market at that time but I met a guy in Instanbul on my way from Tunisia in late 2012, we have been communicating constantly via Facebook and when I made a post on my personal page as well as the academy social media page that we are looking for a consultant to organize a trial camp for the academy. he responded that he knows some club executive in Turkey that could help us execute our plans in bringing the team there for 10 days to play 4 matches in 8 days and rest for one before returning back to Nigeria hoping the teams we will be playing against will show interest in some of the players and possibly sign them so we can make some profit. Each player was to pay the sum of N350,000 approximately $1100 each which covers visa, feeding and flight ticket to Turkey and back for 10 days.

Since the academy players and parents trust me and could see our past record of success in executing such a project, many players responded but only 18 registered and paid the amount requested. I called the partner who I have for a professional reason decided not to mention his name for now since the matter is still registered with the Nigeria Police Force. I also registered myself and the academy head coach for the event so the amount exceeding  N3 million about $9,000was paid as upfront payment to process visas for the 18 players and two officials. He called about a week and a half later that the visas were ready which he proved by bringing my passport with visa stamped on it. He then requested for the remaining fee so he can secure flight tickets and the team can fly a few days later, since the money was already in my account, I transferred the remaining balance of over N5 million about $15,000 to his own account. I did all of this with so much excitement and a huge expectation of return.

That last transfer was the beginning of a major turning point in my entrepreneurial life, I found out two days later from a friend that the visas that were issued and stickered to the 20 passports were all altered and not issued by the embassy. On finding out I reported the issue immediately to the nearest police station so we can make an arrest of this deceitful fellow immediately but all effort to get him from there on proved abortive knowing fully well what he has done. I decided to inform my coaching staff and they suggested calling the players together and let them know the heartbreaking news. Some took it and acted like they believed while others asked what will happen from here on which I replied we will have to find out. Some of the player’s parents on hearing it did what any parent will do by reporting to the authority who invited me to come to explain what had transpired. I made a promise to return the funds personally. Sold my personal car, the landed property I planned to use for my house and was able to refund a few of the players.

What to do next was unknown at this period and that was when the idea of going away from the country for a while crossed my mind as I could not look my children in the eyes and tell them they won’t go to school anymore since I have sold all my assets.

On the night of 6th February 2015, I departed Lagos for Atlanta from Atlanta to New York and a three-day brutal train ride from New York to San Bernadino California which became home for the next six months. After connecting with a former senior colleague in the broadcast industry, he suggested I come to Houston Texas and was able to introduce me to a local Houston television channel executive who gave me the opportunity to manage the channel and I did for the next two years. California was good but Houston was more of home than anywhere else and I have loved every bit of it.  Since then, I have worked with Amazon, FedEx, Goodman Manufacturing and currently with the Texas Department of  Criminal Justice. these jobs have nothing to do with my background as a Broadcaster and Football Entrepreneur but this is America and you have to hustle.

Staying away for five years without my daughters, my parents, friends and directly managing the academy project has been brutal, challenging and very emotional but it has made me grow to a better person and the experience I have gathered can never be bought for a million dollars. I have had nights of tears alone in my bed, in the showers, while driving and sometimes when I am cursed out by my supervisors at work but I have managed to take it all in and use it to further develop my leadership skill. I am filled with hope and an exciting future ahead and believed so much that all I have missed and lost is being restored back to me from here on. This is my journey so far.

I will love to come to share my experience and how I have been able to come out of many challenges while here at your gathering or event, let’s talk.

My book Road Map to a Successful Football Career will be released soon and hope you get a copy and read or as a gift to an upcoming football player you know.

Thank you for taking out time to read this. Bayonle Arashi

It’s been about 9 months since my last appearance on the screen producing and presenting any of my shows and Lord I missed it. This thought me a few lessons and made me realize the general saying that some people in your life that see and follow all your activities but never feel the need to offer any sort of encouragement with the word of support that you should keep going. They rather watch, not comment, not like or even use their platform to share your work. The truth is I was not doing what I did for them but for me. I was doing my own part of sharing some positivity in this world where there are so much confusion and discouragement.

I have had people ask why I no longer produce any of my television shows, the last one was the sports segment I anchor on My Community Show with the last episode airing in December 2019. This has been due to a few things which I am unable to detail here but majorly it was due to loss of motivation, no sponsorship was forthcoming despite many efforts with advertising. You may say that should not be enough reason to stop but the truth is even the strongest people must learn to stop and walk away sometimes then come back and look at that project again and this time from a different angle. This was exactly what I have done.

You will agree the last 7 months of the year 2020 have shown us that nothing is guaranteed and tomorrow is not promised. I have however found a way to make something positive out of the year personally. The release of my best-selling book Road Map to a Successful Football Career is something I am proud of myself for, though it was a hard task, I managed to pull through and publish the book on Amazon and Epok bookstore selling the book in my home country of Nigeria. I have also just released the video course version of the book as promised in one of my previous blog for folks that cannot make the sacrifice to read an actual book. You can order and watch the course here now for a limited sales period at only $27. I also turned the big 40 this past June so I guess 2020 hasn’t been a bad year for me as I plan to double down on the hard work and reach for greater heights.

Road Map on Epok Bookstore Nigeria

This is why the title of my blog this week comes in, I am coming back on your screen guys with a new broadcast which I titled Football+. The idea for the show was inspired after looking at what has been happening around the game of football in the last few months. Though most of the European elite leagues have managed to pull through the season without fans at the stadium. The show will have three segments which are key to keep the excitement of the beautiful game alive. They are Trending Topic, Motivation, and Career Advice.

I hope you will agree with me we all need some motivation in our lives at this period, the segment on career advice is very vital as we all know that the world changed in the year 2020 and it is better we all change with it or forgets about having any meaningful impact going forward. I will do my best each week to bring you something that will make you ask for more. The 3 segments will be covered in 10 to 15 minutes and it will air on some of the shows I have segments on previously as well as my YouTube channel which I suggest you subscribe to if you have not already done that.

Stay tuned guys and see you again soon.

As the first child of my parents growing up in Ibadan Nigeria, I was never allowed to play football because all my dad wanted was for me to go to school, get the best job available thereafter and live a better life than him which I am sure is the wish most parents have. We moved to Otta Ogun state in my early years and I had my early education up to the first school leaving certificate there before my dad moved us back to Ibadan where I had my secondary education, he was always closely monitoring me after school making sure I come straight to the house to do my homework and get ready for the next day, there was no much extra activity for me as a boy growing up but I still manage through the help of my mum to sneak out from time to time and play some soccer with my friends knowing the danger involved if my dad should ever find out.

After my secondary education which I finished as a 16-year-old, he decided I should go to a vocational school, I couldn’t question his authority because as a child you have to trust your parents. I thank my dad for doing his best in giving me a strong foundation because that vocational education which I had at Government Technical College Abeokuta Ogun state between 1996 and 1999 was the beginning of my broadcasting career that then led me to my original passion football.

I was employed a few months after graduation as a Technician with Murhi International Television (MITV) in Lagos but my chief engineer at that time Engineer Tosin Awonaike saw more than a technician in me, I had no idea he was watching me leave the transmitter room and go to the Master Control Room to watch what they do with the buttons. I was curious to know how people get to see what they watch on TV. My boss then recommended that I be transferred to the production department of the organization.

I met my first mentor Mr Adeolu Olanihun now of blessed memory, he was very warm towards me and gave me my foundation in broadcast production. Adeolu was the only Sports Presenter and Producer the channel has at that time and was a very popular on-air personality. He was like a brother I never had. The head of the production department at that time Mr Martins Alamu was also paying attention to the new kid on the block, in fact, my nickname back then was WHIZ KID and just two years later he will leave MITV to join the biggest privately owned Television channel in Nigeria at that time Africa Independent Television. Mr Alamu invited me to come and join his team at AIT for us to do bigger things together which I didn’t think twice about.

It was at AIT that I was introduced to the game of football proper, I was privileged to work with the best in the industry. The likes of Aisha Falode, Mitchel Obi and many more were all at this organization covering the game across the world. I spent the next 10 years with AIT covering the game of football and travelling to some finest stadiums before resigning from my appointment in 2009 to start my own company taking with me all the experience gathered.

My journey and action plan:

I had established Midas Football Academy in 2008 after seeing the vast untapped talent in African football due to the opportunity I have to travel across Africa and Europe. This project aimed to help young players from Africa to develop their game and to expose their talent through domestic and international tournaments and over 10 years later, I am now taking the academy project to a different level despite the confining cage of poverty, visa restrictions and lots of limitations suffered in the past.

The Vision for the academy

To become the biggest football academy in Africa; to have centres in different parts of the world; to successfully produce the type of players that will qualify for national teams and [succeed in] world football.

The Dream facility will sit on approximately 12 acres of land, has two match fields and two training fields—as well as a gym, dorms, teaching rooms, and break rooms. I hope to partner with some corporate organizations looking to invest in Africa, something I believe will bring both financial and social returns. The plan is to be taking a minimum of 120 boys off the streets every two years.

There will be continuing education for players that have completed high school education, the kids will be prepared for overseas education certificates to stand a chance of getting scholarships into different higher institutions across Africa, the United States, and Europe. It will accept youths from all African countries between the age of 11 and 16 years.

The goal is to train and educate young players in more than just football, as I believe not all of these kids might make a career out of playing the game. But the vocational education they will gain will help them make a living for themselves and for their families after graduating from the academy. You might be curious to ask why embark on such an almost impossible mission? well, this is my life purpose. I also found out that the most gifted grassroots players in most parts of the world often come from poor families and that is why I want God to use me to erase this standard.

I know the importance of football in Africa and of the knowledge that every parent wants the best for their children.  in the past, our recruitment style has always been by travelling across the country every year organizing free open soccer screenings that give players the chance to exhibit their abilities. Afterwards, the academy will invite them to Lagos to do another round of screening, and if they are successful, the team will give the best among them a free one-year membership at the academy. We always want players that will demonstrate a willingness to learn.

second project: football technology product

In the past five years, I have been working to create a technology product that will help football players to find the right opportunity as the hundreds if not thousands of deceitful agents and scouts have become a menace to the industry, I am also aware that not all players will play for my academy or are currently at the level of football academy player, some have been fortunate to have the right football training and education and they are now seeking the right link to professional clubs or for some to further their education.  This is why I founded Scoutballers Soccer Recruiting, a web platform for football players (professional, aspiring talent or high school student). It’s going to be a recruiting bank that has come to provide a lifelong solution to how players are being scouted. I also found out that almost 90% of football players do not know the basic requirement they need to take their career to the next level and that is the problem I am hoping to solve with this platform. we are currently creating the MVP version and getting ready to hit the market.

In conclusion, I believe I have found my purpose and it is about bringing change to the beautiful game. God has given me enough grace to develop courage and to believe this is my path in life. I will rather be a part of the solution to the many problems facing the world than be another complainer waiting for someone to get it done.

I am open to sharing more about all my plans and vision with anyone interested in joining me, I am also available to speak at your event as long as it concerns the youth and how to bring out the best in any situation. Let’s talk.