Abayomi Mansur Odusanya

It is 7 a.m. and Abayomi is getting ready for his regular football practice at FK Bohemia Praha, a well-known football team that competes in the second highest level in the Czech Republic. Abayomi is a relatively new addition to the team. Even though he has played for the team for only less than a year, he has become a popular player amongst the team as well as attracted noticeable interest from the club’s fans and media. His accomplishments have become a target of sport media in this country who have followed him around during his career documenting his athletic accomplishments, successes and escapades. National sport followers may know Abayomi as a talented football player born and raised in Nigeria who was originally recruited by Madrid’s Alcobendas and later on transferred to the Czech Republic to play for Aritma in Praha.

Abayomi, however, represents more than an interesting football player. He is a face in Prague College’s promotional campaign including metro posters and programme brochures. When you meet Abayomi, called by his classmates “Yomi,” you cannot help but smile; he is a very friendly, positively minded young gentleman who, despite his accomplishments and successes in the football arena, is very down to earth and modest. He is an inspired individual who likes to succeed not only in the sports arena but also considers his future involvement in other fields.  He says that he knows that a sport career is what attracts him and interests him, but he cannot rely on the fact that he will be playing forever, and he feels a need to build a second career, something that he can always fall back on.

This thought led him to start studying in the HND Business Programme at Prague College two years ago. Abayomi’s aspirations are to not only to become a professional athlete with international recognition, but to also receive an education that would give him the tools to accomplish yet another dream – to open his own business.

So what does a typical day of Abayomi look like? Mornings are always spent on the football field while during afternoons Abayomi sits behind the classroom desks and studies business. That is quite a busy day; however Abayomi feels that this is the only way he can combine both of his interests. He believes that the key to success is to work hard but to never lose optimism and a positive outlook. And what are his future plans? Abayomi is aiming high, and he is willing to move and travel to work for his future potential employers, but if he stays locally, he plans to complete the MSc in International Management at Prague College.