Defending champions, Alakoto Senior Secondary School and Egan Senior School will next month begin their title defence in the yearly Lagos Guaranty Trust (GT) Bank Principals' Cup.Speaking at a press briefing to herald the kick off of the 2011/2012 season, Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Olayinka Oladunjoye said the competition has continued to grow in status following the singular support of sponsor, GT bank as well as offered the participants opportunities for healthy rivalry, character development, physical and mental conditioning.She added that the tournament has provided strategic platforms for the students to regain individual creativity and also encouraged discovery of talents.'The year 2011/2012 Principals' Cup promises to be another momentus event. All hands are on deck to ensure a successful outing. I strongly believe that this competition will expose students to myriad of career opportunities that sports have to offer,' Oladunjoye added.The competition will be staged at four levels commencing with the zonal preliminaries to district finals, state preliminaries and the finals. Winners in each stage are expected to proceed to the next stage.For the Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Wahid Enitan Oshodi, it became necessary to marry education with sports, saying that this was obtained globally and it behooves on Nigeria to take a cue from this.'Sports without education will not take any athletes anywhere and Nigeria has not availed itself this opportunity. Players should see this as an advantage to better themselves in life and in the sports and this is what we are preaching in Lagos State now. So this is what Governor Babatunde Fashola stands for and we will continue to encourage our athletes that are willing to further their studies while those willing to take to vocational training will also be supported,' Oshodi said.In her address, General Manager, Communication and External Affairs of GT Bank, Lola Odedina, said the company would continue to help in developing young and exceptional talents that would become great football stars and worthy ambassadors in Nigeria and beyond.She said it was the strong passion for youth development and grassroots football that prompted the bank to partner with the Lagos State Government to bankroll the championship, which is the most celebrated and historic football competition in Lagos and Nigeria.'For us at GTBank, The Principals cup goes beyond just football, it is also a veritable platform to mentor youths and encourage them to pursue their dreams. This is why we introduced two distinct mentorship programmes' The Principals Cup Tournament Ambassador's Programme (TAP), where thousands of students were mentored by role models in the society and Camp GTBank ' a football summer camp organized for the best and most skillful players selected from the competition,' Odedina explained.To ensure the success of this year's season, she said they would upgrade the sporting facilities at participating schools as well as provide footballs, nets and other equipment.Her words: 'At the end of the competition, the Tournament Ambassadors Program will kick off. Schools that qualify for the district, state and semi finals would be invited to participate in a mentorship program which would be anchored by seasoned and well-respected icons in the society.'The Player Development programme, also known as 'Camp GTBank' will commence immediately after TAP. During this programme, outstanding players will be selected and trained for a period of two weeks by well-known football veterans from Nigeria and abroad,' she said.
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