2026-01-30, 03:04 PM - Word count:
30 Jan 2026
When I arrived in Victoria Falls for my season at the SSL Academy, the entire Eagles organization welcomed me warmly. I was thrilled to be joining such a friendly group of athletes, coaches, and staff. Once I got settled, the team’s social media team informed me that they will be running a question & answer series throughout the season so the Victoria Falls fans can learn more about me and my fellow prospects. This sounds like a great idea! I’m happy to share more about me with my new community.
Their first question for the series is:
My parents Nnamdi and Uche are very brave people. With a young child and no prior experience outside of Nigeria, they picked up their life and moved to the Canary Islands. They knew nothing about their destination and nothing about the language, but that didn’t matter because my parents are also very passionate people. They moved to Tenerife for my father’s new career in astronomy, and all the promises of pursuing his dream justified all the challenges that would come with immigration.
As I was growing up, my parents always encouraged me to try many new things, and they often let me tag along to the things they liked to do. I have vivid memories of participating in a swim team at an early age, along with many other competitive activities. Different interests came and went over the course of my childhood, but my parents were always supportive of me, no matter what it was. What they wanted most was for me to find something I could devote myself to, just as they had found for themselves in their work.
Their constant support for me was incredible, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but at times their expectation that I develop a strong passion for something like them was difficult on me. I admired my parents’ drive to always work hard, but I felt a lot of pressure from them to strive for greatness in everything I did. I convinced myself that doing anything with less than 100% effort was underachieving. Over time, I cut out a lot of the organized activities from my life. I reasoned that I could never be seen as falling short of their expectations if there wasn’t a stage for my performance to be judged in the first place.
Searching for direction during this period of my life was hard, but it’s what led me to football. During this time, I was still engaging in casual activities like swimming, surfing, and climbing with friends, but I didn’t sign up for competition sports or devote my full energy into any one thing. I lived with an openness to do things without thinking about whether I would be any good, and that’s what granted me the courage to try football. My athletic talents translated naturally to the game, and I found for the first time a true love for a competitive sport. At last, I understood what it meant to have a passion for something, and all the pressure melted away. Of course, my parents were still right there alongside me to support that endeavor. It wouldn't be until later in college that I would make that passion my top priority, but I'll save that story for another time.
When I arrived in Victoria Falls for my season at the SSL Academy, the entire Eagles organization welcomed me warmly. I was thrilled to be joining such a friendly group of athletes, coaches, and staff. Once I got settled, the team’s social media team informed me that they will be running a question & answer series throughout the season so the Victoria Falls fans can learn more about me and my fellow prospects. This sounds like a great idea! I’m happy to share more about me with my new community.
Their first question for the series is:
Quote:What is your family like, and how have they been involved in your football journey?
My parents Nnamdi and Uche are very brave people. With a young child and no prior experience outside of Nigeria, they picked up their life and moved to the Canary Islands. They knew nothing about their destination and nothing about the language, but that didn’t matter because my parents are also very passionate people. They moved to Tenerife for my father’s new career in astronomy, and all the promises of pursuing his dream justified all the challenges that would come with immigration.
As I was growing up, my parents always encouraged me to try many new things, and they often let me tag along to the things they liked to do. I have vivid memories of participating in a swim team at an early age, along with many other competitive activities. Different interests came and went over the course of my childhood, but my parents were always supportive of me, no matter what it was. What they wanted most was for me to find something I could devote myself to, just as they had found for themselves in their work.
Their constant support for me was incredible, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but at times their expectation that I develop a strong passion for something like them was difficult on me. I admired my parents’ drive to always work hard, but I felt a lot of pressure from them to strive for greatness in everything I did. I convinced myself that doing anything with less than 100% effort was underachieving. Over time, I cut out a lot of the organized activities from my life. I reasoned that I could never be seen as falling short of their expectations if there wasn’t a stage for my performance to be judged in the first place.
Searching for direction during this period of my life was hard, but it’s what led me to football. During this time, I was still engaging in casual activities like swimming, surfing, and climbing with friends, but I didn’t sign up for competition sports or devote my full energy into any one thing. I lived with an openness to do things without thinking about whether I would be any good, and that’s what granted me the courage to try football. My athletic talents translated naturally to the game, and I found for the first time a true love for a competitive sport. At last, I understood what it meant to have a passion for something, and all the pressure melted away. Of course, my parents were still right there alongside me to support that endeavor. It wouldn't be until later in college that I would make that passion my top priority, but I'll save that story for another time.
![[Image: ihJvO77.png]](https://imgur.com/ihJvO77.png)
