Every year, the football world goes on a short break mid-year, and fans tend to do likewise. In the meantime, while some fans follow updates from their teams to get abreast of their preparation for the new season, other fans continue to save with their teams. With the recent update, true fans in Football Circles like you, can continue to save off-season, (when your team scores in a friendly, makes transfers, or signs a new player, etc).
See more of the exhilarating details here.
That’s not the only thing that happened off-season.
While the likes of Haaland, Rashford, Saka, and the GOATs were chilling somewhere in the Bahamas, the people of Cowrywise took their off-season excitement to the field. For several weeks now, the team has met on a football field close to the office every Saturday, to play set matches. It’s technically a ritual at this point. Even though the call time is 7 am, ‘the boys’ start trooping in from 6:30 am, just so they can save a spot on the first set. Talk about commitment! Over time, the influx of players that show up, boots, and bibs in hand, has grown from a small team of 10 -15 Cowrywise staff to a behemoth of close to 50 individuals – from other organizations and businesses around the Ikeja area.
What started as a weekend, off-work, meet and greet, has slowly, but surely become a cultural movement of sorts. A safe space where 9-5ers, (employees, managers, and execs), have come together to play on equal footing; together. The love of the game, and the thrill of making genuine connections, supersedes the entrapment of corporate dynamics. And the movement is still growing. If you love playing football and you happen to be in the Ikeja GRA area on a Saturday morning, stop over at the Ikeja Primary School. Get kitted up, do a couple of squats, (if you can 🙃), and get ready to join the next set. We guarantee you’ll forget the stinker email your horrible boss sent you the night before. 😉
What’s most interesting about this community, is its humble beginning. Let’s take you through that journey.
Playing ball – A chance to give back
The football field is located in the Ikeja Primary School – a public school around the Ikeja area. At the time we started playing on the field, it was in a complete state of disrepair – the perimeter fence broke off after a storm bent it in the opposite direction. The goalposts were completely mangled; the nets were intertwined with the metal frame. The sitting area was, well, not worth sitting on. Large, disproportionate, holes were visible on the concrete wall behind the sitting area. The field grass was pulling off, leaving a good patch of the ground exposed. Unfortunately, Charles, one of our star defenders, sprained his ankle at some point when he slipped trying to get the ball from a striker of an opposing team. His team won the match though, so that was consolation enough for him.
It was tough playing there in the early days.
Fortunately, the people of Cowrywise by default, have an innate ability to spot an opportunity a mile away, (or in this case, a goalpost away). What for others was a place to play ball, for us, was a chance to give back to the community, the school, and especially, the students – a diamond in the rough. We decided to turn a once-damaged field of broken dreams into a football haven for all and sundry.
We went to work!
Teamwork makes the field work
The first step was getting in touch with the school administration and sports coordinator to get the necessary approvals and documentation required to kick off the renovation of the field. This was possibly the fastest phase of the project to close up. Within a few days, we had an agreement drafted and shared with the school, authorizing and giving us access to make necessary repairs.
Next step? Scope the project based on priority depending on which part was in urgent need of repair. We sent out Request for Proposals (RFP) to vendors on our database to submit work on similar projects, to help us vet, screen, and select the right vendors for the project. The diverse nature of the disrepair meant we had to engage several vendors to work on the project simultaneously. Both the perimeter fence and the sitting area required fabrication, which logically was taken on by a construction expert with expertise in metalwork.
The field repair was assigned to a company specializing in turf setups for 5-asides; they’ve set up fields across the country. A small construction firm repaired the damaged walls; blocking the holes and plastering the wall, while a graffiti artist put the finishing touch – priming and spray painting the wall to give it that Cowrywise feel you know and love.
It had several moving parts – from logistics, budgetary approvals, supply of raw materials, quality checks, and a few hiccups along the way. We initially had branded banners around the field, installed on the top part of the perimeter fence. By the time we arrived at the field the following Saturday, one side of the fence had collapsed, due to heavy rains the previous night. The project supervisor’s analysis concluded that the banners were a contributing factor to the collapse. We had to take them down, and further brace the metal frames at the corners to mitigate such issues going forward.
The project took a few weeks, a 14-man team of bricklayers, welders, a mural artist, painters, and a supervisor. The team worked closely with the school administrator and sports coordinator to keep the project on track.
Safe to say, it was worth it!
Getting with the culture
You may be wondering what business a wealth tech brand has with revamping a football field. Or if the project is brand-fit. As a brand, we recognize the influence football has in shaping young people and uniting us collectively as one big 200-million-strong team. Our love for football knows no ethnicity, religion, or socio-economic class. The rich and the poor exercise this same right, and they do so passionately. From the dusty roads on street corners, all the way to Wembley Stadium or Camp Nou, you’ll find a real love for football. But, it goes further than that. Much deeper actually. It’s a culture. And we have positioned ourselves as a strategic part of it.
This is why we built Football Circles, and why the business of football, is our business.
Football Circles is a saving product that helps fans of the game save for every goal their team scores. It’s a win-win situation. You save over time as you continue to support your team.
Let’s paint a picture.
Your team is playing a crucial match on a Friday evening. You close for the day and dash to watch the match in a local bar. Your team is playing in a few minutes. You bump into a few of your colleagues who jeer at you for supporting your club. You don’t care. By now, you are used to it. It’s a tough match, but your team beats the rival team 2-0! They celebrate. You jump for joy. You get a notification from Cowrywise; you just saved 5,000 for the two goals your team scored (N2,500 per goal). 🫡
That’s a typical day in the life of a fan who uses Cowrywise. As a brand, we are determined to integrate culture with investment, to keep our promise to make investing as easy as sending a tweet.
What’s new this season?
As the 2024/2025 season is about to kick off, we’ll be making some updates to the Football Circle. Every season, we introduce a new feature, and this season won’t be any different. Football Circles will now include more clubs from the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL), Bundesliga and Seria A.
Now, fans of the following teams can join their respective circles to save when they score:
- Enyimba
- Kano Pillars
- Remo Stars
- Sunshine Stars
- Rangers International
- AC Milan
- Inter Milan
- Juventus
- Bayern Munich
Good luck!
Are you up for a game?
Matches on the revamped field will continue in earnest. If you own or work in a company, and are interested in setting up a corporate match, fill out the form below, and we’ll get in touch. Not to worry, we will try not to ‘spell’ your company name when we play. 😊
Click here to fill out the form ⚽
