Nasarawa State U-13 Football Tournament Kicks Off

Posted : 20 May 2024

The second edition of the Nasarawa State U-13 Inter-Primary School Football Competition will kick off on Monday at 4 p.m. at the Lafia City Stadium.

Organizers say that the opening match between defending champions, Wamba Local Government Area, and Doma Local Government Area will kick-start the commencement of hostilities.

The Chief Organizer of the Competition and Founder cum Chief Executive Officer of the Aliyu Bello Charity Foundation, Hon. Aliyu Bello, after inspecting the hostel accommodation reserved for the 13 Local Government Areas' contingents situated within the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Skills Acquisition Centre in Lafia on Sunday, stated that the response from the participating Local Government Areas was heartwarming.

"I have just finished inspecting the facility where these young and promising athletes would camp for the entire duration of the competition, and I must say I am highly impressed by what I saw on the ground.

"Primarily, the aims of the competition include celebrating International Children's Day, which is held every May 27th, commemorating the 5th anniversary in office of Engr. Abdullahi Sule as Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, and helping to nurture the budding talents to achieve both their goals in the sport and create a career pathway for them."

He revealed that the Organizing Committee would do everything humanly possible to ensure that the second edition becomes a huge success.

"This year's edition of the competition will be way better than the previous edition.

"In this edition, we are providing competition kits for the players, accommodating them throughout the duration of the tournament, feeding them both morning and evening, while the various Local Government Areas would provide lunch and daily stipends to their various athletes and accompanying officials.

"We are also providing buses for internal runnings from their accommodation to the match venue."

While commending the Organizing Committee headed by Danmusa Mohammed for ensuring that things are done properly towards attaining excellence, the philanthropic Aliyu Bello called on well-spirited individuals in the State to turn out in their numbers to lend support to the children and the State Government.

He highlighted the number of Local Government Areas already in Lafia for the competition, as at the time of this report, to include Awe, Nasarawa-Eggon, and Doma Local Government Area, stressing that the remaining Local Government Areas would arrive in Lafia on Monday.

The 13 participating Local Government Areas are split into four groups, with two teams qualifying from each group into the knockout phase in the game, whose final is slated for May 27th, 2024.

Trophies, prizes, other consolations, and Certificates of Participation are up for grabs by the participating teams.

Each team is expected to provide 20 players and three officials to be eligible to partake in the one-week-long tournament.

Wamba Local Government Area is the defending champion after winning the first edition in 2023, decided at the Sports Complex of the Federal University of Lafia.

The competition is organized by Hon. Aliyu Bello, founder of the Aliyu Bello Charity Foundation, a non-Governmental Organisation based in Lafia, and it's being executed in collaboration with the Nasarawa State Government through the Nasarawa State Ministry of Youth and Sports Development; Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Community Development; and Ministry of Women's Affairs and Social Development and Nasarawa State Football Association.

Nasarawa State U-13 Football Tournament Kicks Off

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