Olayinka Shokoya, Founder and Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Elite School Cup, on Friday called on government, corporate organisations and individuals to support school sports for talents discovery.
Shokoya made the call during Conference Cup – a grassroots sports development programme – held at Kith and Kin Sports complex, Ebute Ikorodu, Lagos.
He said that the competition, the second in the series, had grown with benefits, hence the need for more participation.
“This is the second conference that we are having out of the four core conferences in Lagos. We have just concluded that of Epe and are now in Ikorodu.
“We thank God for schools that are here; because scouts are around to identify talents.
“We are calling on spirited individuals, sport enthusiasts, organisations and government at all levels to support and sponsor events such as this where budding talents can be discovered,” he said.
Shokoya said that the champions that would emerge in the conferences would compete at the grand finale.
“We have more games that will be included to have a larger competition.
“I commend all the participating schools especially the owner of Kith and Kin Educational School for supporting the competition with facilities to host the games.
“The children will concentrate on their studies as well as showcase their talents for opportunities in FA competitions,” he said.
Speaking, Kaoli Olusanya, Chief Learning Officer(CLO) Kith and Kin Educational School ,said that young people need three important domains in education,which he gave as effective, cognitive and the psychomotor, to be balanced.
He said it was important for students to be skilled in the psychomotor in order to build a healthy body system that would make them engage effectively in class.
Olusanya said that his school would partner with the organisers of the competition for sustenance as an annual event in Ikorodu division.
“Our vision is to engage the students not only academically but in different sporting activities so they can discover their talents.
Captain of Kith and Kin School football team, Mustapha Badejo commended the organisers and also called for more support.
Abigail Apute, a basketball team member of Charismatic International School, said the competition was interesting and that it was an opportunity for the girl-child to discover her talent.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that winners in the various events would compete in the cup final.
NAN also reports that 10 schools in Ikorodu competed in the male and female categories of different sporting events such as basketball, football, chess and volleyball during the competition.
In football, Frontrunner College won in the boys category, while Davidhall College won in the girl’s category.
In basketball, Topfield College won in the boy’s category, while Kingfield College won in the girls’ category (NAN)