Sports
Black Satellites, Flying Eagles For World Youth Challenge
World Cup Under-20 champions Ghana are among four teams which will participate in the Cape Town International Challenge, set for April 7-10.
The other three countries that will do battle are 4-time Under-20 World champions Brazil, African giants Nigeria, a side who have traditionally been one of the continent’s top youth team performers, and the South African national Under-20 side, Amajita.
Players that participate at this tournament could well go on to star at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Two venues will be used – the Newlands Stadium, and the Cape Town Stadium, which will play host to eight matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in June and July this year.
The tournament will be used as a test run for the World Cup, while it will also offer Cape Town fans who could not afford or who were unable to secure tickets for the World Cup, the chance to take in world class action at a very affordable cost – tickets are priced at R20 – R30.
While top class action will be on show, perhaps the most crucial purpose of this tournament will be to provide organisers with a gauge of just how ready Cape Town is to host the World Cup proper.
“This is another step in the evolution towards the World Cup. We have already had two test events – the soccer match (between Ajax and Santos) which hosted 20 000, a rugby match (between Western Province and Boland), which had 40 000 spectators,” said deputy Mayor Ian Neilson.
“There will be a Christian prayer event on the March 22, and the Cape Town international Challenge will be the fourth event, and will host 65 000 people.
“This event will stretch us to the limit; it will ensure we are tested with a full stadium. Many of the eight World Cup games will be at night (as will the matches at the International Challenge), so it will provide us with an indicator of how we can cope with a full stadium at night time,” said Neilson.
Director of Sports and Recreation, Gert Bam, added: “We have worked closely with SAFA Cape Town to get this event going. The City has deemed it fit as our final test because of the significance of the event and the competitors.
“We have made it affordable for people throughout the city to attend. Its going to be a wonderful experience and the people of Cape Town are in for a treat.”
SAFA Cape Town will be working closely with the 24 Local Football Associations to try and tap into the 100 000 amateur players in the region to ensure capacity crowds.
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.