NSC plans development centres, Eket reclaims Mobil Schools Sports crown

THE Federal Government will soon set up sports development centres across the country, and Eket, which just hosted the 11th edition of the Akwa Ibom/NNPC/MPN Secondary Schools Athletics Championship, would be one of such centres, officials of the National Sports Commission (NSC) have disclosed.Speaking during the closing ceremony of the Akwa Ibom/NNPC/MPN Secondary Schools Athletics Championship in Eket at the weekend, the NSC commended Mobil Producing for sponsoring the athletics championship for the past 11 years, hinting that given the new thinking of the Federal Government, high performance development centres would be set up all over the federation, with Eket a likely choice.NSC Deputy Director, Sports Federation and Elite Athletes Department, Alhassan Yakmut, who represented the commission, said it would not augur well for sports if athletes so discovered were not developed for the future. According to him, 'there should be an athletics academy in Eket where products of the athletics championship can be further developed to stardom.'According to Yakmut, who was the Nigerian Chef De Mission to the 2011 Maputo All Africa Games, this new thinking and policy of the NSC would aid the growth of all the sports at a time that the country is in dire need of potential stars.At the championship, which featured all the zones of Akwa Ibom State, Eket Zone reclaimed the trophy it lost last year to Ikot Ekpene with 12 gold, seven silver and four bronze medals. Ikot Ekpene Zone came second with four gold, seven silver and six bronze medals, while Uyo Zone had four gold, three silver and four bronze medals.For the first time in the history of the competition, a zone ended the championship without any medal and that was Etinan, while Oron Zone did slightly better with one silver andfour bronze medals.
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