REPORTER: UCHE NDEKE
No fewer than 350 grassroots players are currently undergoing screening for the Anambra State male and female football teams ahead of the Southeast Zonal eliminations for the Intermediate Games.
The screening was declared open on Friday at the Awka Township Stadium by the Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Patrick-Agha Mba.
The participants, aged between 16 and 19, comprise about 70 female players and 280 male players drawn from senior secondary schools and sports academies across the state.
The Southeast Zonal eliminations will hold in Umuahia, Abia State, this month, while the Intermediate Games will take place in Lagos later this year.
Mba said the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo is determined to build strong football teams in both the male and female categories, as well as in other sporting events, that will not only conquer their peers in the Southeast but also serve as worthy ambassadors of the zone in Lagos.
He charged the players to remain disciplined, dedicated and focused in both their academic pursuits and sporting careers.
The Commissioner expressed confidence that Anambra would raise the best talents from the Southeast and promised that the state would succeed in sports under the present administration.
Radio Nigeria Correspondent Uche Ndeke reports that the Commissioner was joined by the Chairman of the Anambra State Football Association, Chikelue Iloenyosi, the Director of Sports, Emeka Obidimma, and other officials of the Ministry at the start of the screening.
