Obiano To Be Honoured With 1,000 Balls

 Anambra state Governor , Willie Obiano, will be honoured on Saturday by Super Sport , South Africa, with 1000  balls for his demonstrable commitment in sports development in his state.

The  state commissioner for Sports and Youth Development , Tony Nnacheta disclosed this on Thursday in a media briefing in Awka , the state capital .

He said the 1000 balls would be distributed to primary and secondary school children in the state who are between nine to thirteen years of age.

Nnacheta who was a one time Vice President of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), said the  the South African contingent of super sport , would during their tour of Anambra  also give training to boys and girls in  aforesaid  age bracket in various skills in football.

He said this development was just the beginning of the good things and innovations the governor would bring about in sports in a couple of months, noting that about 10 areas of sporting activities  would be given arm shots in the state

 The commissioner who said henceforth the state would  begin to take its pride of place in sports competitions in the country vowed  that the state would make remarkable impact in the Calabar sports festival billed to take place later in the year.

He said he had been in close touch with athletes and coaches of Anambra state extraction nationwide with a view to bringing them to the state to help in sports development.

He said “no matter the contract the signed in those other state, we are going look into it and bring the home to work for us here”.

The former NFA boss said sports under the Obiano administration would be tackled in three facets, viz: athletes, facilitators and facilities.

 He ruled out the possibility of the state floating a football club ,saying it is capital intensive and little value , maintaining that what the state would do would be to encourage public/private partnership in that respect for a mega football club in the state.

 Meanwhile odogwuemekaodogwu.com reports that the much awaited All Anambra Soccer Championship (Knockout 2014) is about to kick off. The organisers, Hattrick Consult and One Goal Limited  recently in Awka came up with the grouping of the local government areas in a transparent manner through open ballot system. Group 1 has Onitsha South, Nnewi South and Dunukofia; Group 2 has Ogbaru, Ihiala, Anambra West; Group 3 has Awka South, Awka North,Orumba North; Group 4 has Nnewi North, Anambra East and Idemili South; Group 5, Onitsha North, Njikoka and Ayamelu; Group 6, Aguata, Anaocha andEkwusigo and Group 7 has Idemili North, Oyi and Orumba South.
Addressing the press, the Project Director of the Soccer Fiesta, Mr. Tagbo Okeke, stated that: “Football has remained one factor that has continually served as a vehicle of unity in Nigeria and the world over. And it is with this in mind that Hattrick Consult and One Goal Limited have decided to initiate an event that has the potential to connect the villages and local governments across the state towards rebuilding and strengthening the cord of brotherliness in the lives of Anambrarians.
“Knockout 2014 is conceived to give talented and aspiring footballers of Anambra origin within and outside the state, the opportunity to showcase their talent and have a shot at their dreams of becoming professional footballers. This competition will no doubt transform the lives of our youths, but not stopping there, it would also create role models out of participants across the state.”
Explaining further, Mr. Tagbo Okeke who is the son of the former Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Ochendo S.N. Okeke, stated that: “The event will take the organising team across the 21 Local Government Areas in the State.”
The first stage will see all the participating L.G.A.s compete against one another at a group stage, having divided them into seven (7) groups to qualify for the next and final stage of the competition. The final stage will have eight (8) successful teams squaring out against one another for the cup”.
He re-emphasized that: “We are totally committed to ensuring the overwhelming success of this event knowing that it would bring honour toAnambra and Nigeria as a whole”.

Written by  Tony Okafor , Awka.