[FILES] Racket. Photo / Tennishead
The best Nigerian racquet sports players from primary and secondary schools from across the country have arrived in Lagos for the inaugural National School Racquet Games hosted by the Nigeria School Sport Federation (NSSF).
According to the NSSF, more than 200 students compete for different teams at the five-day event, which includes table tennis and badminton. On the competition table held at the indoor sports hall of the Lagos National Stadium, there are 12 titles.
Besides host Lagos, Rivers, Adamawa and Kano are also in the tournament, which ends today.
The tournament began with a one-day teacher training camp, led by technical officials from the Nigerian Badminton Federation (NBF) and the Nigerian Table Tennis Federation (NTTF).
Speaking ahead of the grand finale, NSSF President Olabisi Joseph said the event is part of the federation’s efforts to harness the budding athletic talent that abounds in schools.
“NSSF aims to ensure massive participation in sports with the aim of providing every Nigerian child with a unique sports experience in school while identifying exceptional talents and instilling the intrinsic value of sportsmanship, work of team, determination, discipline and fair play from an early age. .
“The head coach of the junior and national teams is part of the exercise to identify tournament talent with the aim of preparing them to become national champions who will represent the country at major international competitions. We are indeed delighted with the platform created by NSSF to allow us to discover talent and we hope it will be sustainable, ”said Orbih.
