Foundation Promotes Cricket Among Youths

The Howzat Cricket Foundation has said that it had in the last 20 years helped promote the game of cricket, particularly among youths.

Austin Areghan, the assistant co-ordinator of the foundation, told newsmen in Lagos that through its initiative, the game had been introduced in some primary schools.

Areghan said that the foundation was conceived by former cricket players like Giwa Osagie, John Abebe, Busiyu Onobolu and Michael Ayibor.

“Some pioneers of the game in Nigeria deemed it fit that to revive the sport a foundation of this kind was necessary,” said Areghan.

The assistant co-ordintor said that the foundation had achieved its aim of empowering and developing youths through cricket, adding that majority of the players in the national teams were products of the foundation.

“The foundation has been able to achieve its goal of developing youths because more than half of the members of the national team passed through the foundation.

“Thus, our impact in cricket in Nigeria is enormous and a useful means of distracting youths from engaging in vices and a platform for social interaction for them,” he said.

Areghan said that to further promote the game, the foundation had organised a training programme for youths from August 8 to 13 at the National Stadium, Lagos.

He said that some of the challenges being faced included having a ground for training and being able to sustain the children’s attention in the coaching clinic.

“We always find it difficult to get a ground to use for the coaching clinic because cricket requires the use of a large space,” Areghan said.

The co-ordinator urged the public not to see the sport as an elitist one but rather embrace it like other sports.