Sports
Enugu Rangers, Rivers United, Others Qualify For NPFL U-17 League Finals
Enugu Rangers will join Rivers United, Remo Stars, Plateau United and Katsina United in the national finals of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) Youth league’s national finals billed to hold at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin.
Enugu Rangers qualified for the national finals by winning the Southeast zonal play-off, which featured Enyimba, Heartland and Abia Warriors’ youth teams.
They got seven points from their three matches at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu, second-placed Heartland had six points, with Abia Warriors ending with two points, while Enyimba had only one point.
Enyimba’s solitary point came from their opening day 2-2 draw with Abia Warriors, while Rangers’ points came from their 1-0 win over Heartland on match day one and 3-0 bashing of Enyimba in the second match and a final day draw with Abia Warriors.
From the Ekiti centre, Remo Stars recorded nine points in the three games played at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, while Plateau United qualified on superior goal difference from the Lafia centre.
Plateau United and Lobi Stars ended the contest at the Lafia Centre on the same seven points, but Plateau United took the ticket courtesy of their superior goal difference.
Katsina won the Kaduna centre with seven points, followed by Doma United with six points, just as Rivers United took the South-South ticket with seven points after three days of hostilities at the Port Harcourt centre.
According to the NPFL, the draw for the national finals will hold on February 12, while the playoffs will run from February 13 to 17 at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.