Super Falcons captain has revealed that the hardships she experienced while growing up continue to drive her passion for giving back to society through the Rasheedat Ajibade Foundation.
The Nigerian international recently sponsored 25 grassroots coaches to undergo coaching and management courses at the National Institute for Sports (NIS) in Lagos as part of her foundation’s commitment to developing football at the grassroots level.
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Speaking with Sports247 during the Full Day With Rash event in Lagos, Ajibade explained that her personal experiences shaped every initiative undertaken by her foundation.
“My pain honestly motivated all that I do. My personal experiences motivated it because if you look at everything we do through my foundation—from coaching education to our back-to-school programme and sponsoring students—it all comes from what I lacked growing up,” she said.
Ajibade disclosed that she once struggled to pay examination fees as a student, an experience that inspired her foundation’s educational support programmes.
“We don’t just pay school fees. We ensure the students are properly mentored, have access to tutorial centres to prepare them for examinations, and we maintain regular follow-ups with their coaches, parents and teachers. These are some of the things I lacked while growing up, including not being able to pay examination fees sometimes.
“Today, I have been blessed with the opportunity and the platform to give back to society, and I see it as a responsibility.”
The Super Falcons skipper also stressed the importance of investing in grassroots coaches, noting that better-trained coaches would produce better footballers for Nigeria.
“Our coaches have the talent, passion and zeal, but many of them have not had access to proper certification and up-to-date knowledge. If they had received those opportunities during our formative years, perhaps we would have become even better athletes.
“But it’s never too late. We can still improve from where we are today.”
Ajibade believes empowering coaches creates a lasting impact because of the number of young players they influence.
“When you train a grassroots coach, you’re training generations of athletes. One coach can work with up to 100 players, so the ripple effect is enormous.
“My pain inspired what I’m doing today through my foundation, and I will continue giving back to the grassroots because that’s where I came from.
