Sports
Go Round FC’s President Charges Players On Promotion
Go Round FC President, Charity Obuah, has charged the team to go for broke and qualify for the Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL via the play-offs.
Go Round FC is currently second on the Nigeria National League, NNL group log, and look set to feature in the play-offs at a date to be fixed by the League.
The team will, however, play their final league match of the regular season away to Osun United.
“The team has done well and I am proud of the progress made so far,”Obuah said.
“The terrain of that division has never been easy so, for our team to win two games away from home plus one draw, it shows we have done really well this season.
“Now we need to make the final push and qualify for the NPFL,” she said.
Charity Obuah also applauds her husband and financier of the club, Bro. Felix Obuah, for his support for her and the team.
“He has been so supportive to the club, encouraging the players with kind words and with finances too. I see it as a selfless sacrifice, knowing that Nigerian football has not reached that level where clubs make profit.
“We will all work together to ensure that the club continues to stay at the top, make it to the NPFL and remain there,” Charity Obuah said.
Meanwhile, Go Round FC needed to win against League leaders, Shooting Stars to remain in position to qualify for the play-offs.
The game initially billed for Sunday, 4th July 2021 was moved to Monday morning because of the rains.
On Monday morning, Go Round FC took a 29th minute lead through Egoride Oghenetega who headed home straight from a corner kick.
Go Round FC continued to pile pressure through Moses Omoduemeke, Golden Duoye, and Hadi Mohammed, but the Shooting Stars defense of Muritala Taiye, Amodu Nurudeen, Abbey Benson and Elum Henry were able to repel whatever was thrown at them.
The first half ended 1-0 in favour of Go Round FC.
In the second half, the Olafimihan Gafar led Shooting Stars attack took the game to Go Round FC and this paid off in the 79th minute when they got their equaliser from a corner kick.
The game was held up in added time when a penalty denied Go Round FC was heavily protested.
At its restart, the referee awarded a penalty to Go Round FC after Shooting Stars goalkeeper, Ogundare Detan, clattered into a Go Round FC attacker while going in to stop a cross into the box.
Akinwale Ogunjobi converted the kick as Go Round FC won 2-1.
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.