Sports
Rivers U-15 Team To Represent Nigeria In France
Team Rivers would represent the country in France as winners of the football event of the just-concluded National School Sports Festival in Port Harcourt.
Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, President, National School Sports Federation (NSSF) announced this at the end of the 10-day Games in Port Harcourt on Saturday.
He explained said the Team Rivers team was awarded the right for its victory over Team Niger in the final match.
Team Rivers had beaten Niger 1-0 in the U-15 category to win the trophy.
“This is also a way to encourage them to bring out the best in them,’’ Mohammed said during the closing ceremonies of the 5th National School Sports Festival.
“Team Rivers have done well in football, so we have to reward them to the benefit of the nation and by so doing, we can further develop the game,” he said.
Mohammed said that he was grateful to the Rivers government for making the competition ‘smooth and successful’. He commended all the states that participated in the Games, urging them to continue to encourage the children to go into sports.
Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Sports, Mr Paulinus Nwakwoala, said he was happy to see a new dawn in the nation’s sports scene.
Nwakwoala added that Rivers would continue to work with the NSSF to ensure that the country’s sports reached its optimal in development.
“I commend NSSF for making the festival successful; Rivers is ready to support and contribute its quota to sport development.
“I also urge states, schools and principals to support the Federal Government because with NSSF, Nigeria can join the best sporting nations in the world,” he said.
The Delta Chess player, Avwerosuo Emojevu, commended the organisers of the event, saying that he was happy to know other parts of the country.
“I have made new friends and I am happy to be in Rivers,” Emojevu said.
Delta, Akwa Ibom and Ondo states announced their bid to host the 2013 edition of the festival.
The Port Harcourt Games was originally scheduled to hold in 2012.