Erinfolami seeks to consolidate on Kwara Falcons’ recent successes with continental outing

Kwara Falcons’ new coach Lateef Erinfolami says he wants to consolidate on the club’s recent successes by ensuring they play on the continent as soon as possible.

“The thinking of a coach or a new management is to improve on what is on ground.

“I definitely want to improve on what I met on the ground, even beyond the shores of the country,’’ Erinfolami told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Ilorin.

“I am trying to bring in team work and a family atmosphere, and by the time we link all these together we will be moving forward because they are the ingredients for success,’’ he added.

NAN reports that the Ilorin-based basketball clubside are playing in the Kwese Premier Basketball League, and they have enjoyed a good measure of success since inception a few years ago.

Erinfolami said the hospitable nature of Ilorin, a town he said he had visited many times, was a major factor in his not being able to refuse the club’s job offer.

“I love the serene and peaceful atmosphere here. I think this is a place where one can actually sit down and work.

“In other places, there are lots of distractions, but everything is here. God has blessed Kwara state,” the coach said.

The former Lagos Islander and First Deepwater head coach, however, said the club’s success would not solely depend on the team’s technical crew.

He said the team would need the support of the club’s fans and stakeholders.

Erinfolami said the fans were very important to him “because if you do not have the spectators to cheer you up on match days, it is not good for the game.

“But we will map out strategies to see how to bring the fans to the stadium, because I don’t joke with the fans.’’

He said there were lots of resources in Kwara for the game to develop and the Falcons to utilise, pointing at the ongoing Milo Secondary Schools Basketball Championships.

“I have seen a lot of good kids while watching the Milo Secondary Schools Basketball Championships.

“We will take it from there and help the kids to develop. We have talents in Nigeria, even though the issue of discovering and managing them are the problems we have,” Erinfolami who signed a one-year contract in January said.

The coach, who has previously managed Nuwaidrat Basketball Club in Bahrain, was also part of the national basketball coaching crew to the All-Africa Games of 2015 in Congo.