Sports
CTC Boss Urges Grassroots Players To Support Govt
The Caretaker Chairman of Opobo /Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers Enyiada Cookey – Gam has called on Rivers State grassroots football players to support the State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara for there will be more sporting activities at the grassroots and beyond.
Cookey – Gam made the call when speaking with sports journalists shortly after Opobo /Nkoro was eliminated from the ongoing Simplified Governor’s Cup by their Okrika counterparts at the Sharks Football Stadium in Port Harcourt.
According to him, he will do everything possible to support football in his area, adding that the youth should come out more to support the present government for more development and grassroots tournaments in the state.
The LGA boss explained that Okrika won the game did not mean that Opobo /Nkoro team was not good. He described Opobo/Nkoro as having a team with talented and strong footballers.
“ The youth should come out more to support Governor Sim Fubara for he will do more in sports development and competition at the grassroots.
“ For me I will do everything possible to support sports,especially football in my local government area.
“ Today Okrika took the day but I can tell you that the Opobo /Nkoro team comprised talented players.
“ I discovered so much talent in them and they are very strong but in the game of football, one person must take the day, so I will encourage them to go back home and prepare for an other tournament” Cookey – Gam said.
Concerning the poor level of the pitch, he said that it should be an eye opener for the Hon Commissioner for Sports in the state to also see how far they can improve in some of the lapses at the Sharks football Stadium.
“ This Simplified football tournament is not about winners or the losers, it is aimed among others, at pushing the youth out of street and bringing joy to the people.
Kiadum Edookor
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor
