The Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC) at the weekend, said it had conducted screening for all athletes that would represent the state at the forthcoming National Youth Games holding next month in Ilorin, Kwara State.
The LSSC Director of Public Relations, Titi Oshodi, said that the exercise took place inside the main bowl of the Teslim Balogun Stadium.
“The exercise was embarked upon by the sports commission in order to ensure that only eligible athletes are taken to Ilorin for the multi-games competition.
“Some of the associations chairmen, secretaries, coaches and parents were in attendance,” she said.
The Director-General, Lagos State Sports Commission, Oluwatoyin Gafaar, said that the screening became necessary toward achieving success at the Games.
“More importantly, to mitigate the chances of the state athletes being screened out from participating at the Games, hence, denying them the opportunity to showcase their talents.
“The process was transparent and straight forward. In Lagos, we adhere to rules and regulations of the National Youth Games and that’s why we brought all the athletes with their coaches and parents to see the genuineness.
“Our focus and determination is to play by the rules. I am really happy for what we’ve done and every one of us can see that the process was fair.
“We are all happy and parents don’t have reasons to complain. The athletes are also happy and coaches now know that they have new challenges of training and working harder in preparing the athletes for a successful outing in Ilorin,” she said.
“We made a promise to our amiable Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, that we will not disappoint him because he has played his own part by providing everything for us to succeed.
“This is the beginning of the process of fulfilling our promise to make the state proud at the Games,” Gafar said.