AFTER the success recorded during the maiden Adeyemi Karunwi Secondary School table tennis championship, Lagos State Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Wahid Enitan Oshodi has said that the state will continue to encourage more organisations and individuals to sponsor sports competition in schools.Speaking during the grand finale of the Karunwi tourney, Oshodi lauded the Adeyemi Karunwi Trust for bankrolling the championship, saying this would surely help to encourage healthy rivalry among students in public schools.'We are happy that this competition has thrown up some talents, which we will nurture to stardom. We are going to engage coaches to go into schools to train these athletes. For us, organizing this tournament has helped to achieve some of our aims and we believe other well-meaning individuals and corporate bodies will partner the state at encouraging and staging competitions in schools,' he said.He added: 'We are happy that the Karunwi Trust has been able to handle table tennis and we hope others will take other sports so that our we can athletes with true age growing up to represent the country at major championships in future. There is no doubt that the issue of age cheat has taken our sports backward in recent time and this can only be addressed if we pay attention to schools sports. For all the athletes in the state, we will have a data base where all their details will be computed for us to keep tab of their progress.'For the chairman of the Trust, Olawale Karunwi sponsoring the tournament would not be a one-off activity, as the body would continue to support sports in schools.Having financed over 34 schools to organize inter-house sports competition, Karunwi commended Governor Babatunde Fashola for his untiring efforts at empowering youths through sports.The duo of Nimota Aregbesola and Qudus Surmer stole the show with their excellent performance at the one-week championship held at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Complex, Rowe Park in Yaba, Lagos. They were also adjudged the most valuable players of the competition.
Click here to read full news..
