Maldives national team and New Radiant defender, Ahmed Abdulla (Lily) has recently announced that he is starting an academy at his home island, Lh.Hinnavaru.

Giving a speech to the students of Hinnavaru last week, Lily stated that he is opening an academy to develop football in Hinnavaru by the name of LIL Academy. He also stated that the academy will begin in February and is open for participation for kids from LKG onwards.

Speaking to Boalha, Lily mentioned that the main aim of the academy is to develop players at a young age so that more players from the island will be seen in first division and hopefully in the national team in future. He also said that he has been planning it for about five months with the help of his family, friends, Hinnavaru council, school and the youth centre.

“I have got a good support from the parents plus I have already discussed it with them and students. Surprisingly, I got many positive comments from them and more than thirty students have already applied for the academy. I’m hoping that more students will join in the future.” Lily stated.

Speaking about the future plans of the academy and his targets, Lily stated that he has four major objectives planned for the youth of Hinnavaru. Firstly, he plans to organize and conduct a football tournament every year between the teams of the island, to raise the rivalry that has been fading away for the past few years.  His second goal is to organize a football tournament for school students every year to identify the talented youngsters and to identify how much they are developing each year. Thirdly, he plans to conduct coaching sessions by inviting famous and qualified coaches of Maldives, so that the youth may gain good experience before they go on to play football at the senior level. Finally, he aims to participate, a selected team from the academy in the FAM competitions so the students may gain more match experience at a young age.

With the ambition of seeing many players from Hinnavaru playing in the top league in future, Lily has opened the opportunity for the youth to develop their skills at LIL Academy. The academy is scheduled to start in February and is currently open for registration for all students.

Photo: LIL Academy