The second edition of the Delta/Zenith Bank Principals’ Cup Football Competition is set to begin on Wednesday with about 1,600 secondary schools across the state taking part.
The Delta State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Chiedu Ebie, disclosed this to newsmen on Thursday in Asaba, alongside the officials of Hideaplus Nigeria Limited, who are the annual event’s organisers.
He said the competition was being organised because the state was committed to the promotion of schools sports as a vital tool for youth development and professional excellence.
Ebie said the competition’s first edition, which was held last year, recorded huge successes with the discovery of talented footballers in the school system.
He said: “The aim of this competition is to identify and promote talent.
“It is also to encourage our students by letting them know that they can combine sports and education to achieve success in life.
“In this second edition, we have schools from across the 25 local government areas of the state participating.
“It is therefore pertinent to note here that Delta has continued to lead other states of the federation in sports activities, just because of the sort of efforts and resources we put in, and it is our determination to remain the best in sports.
“This is why we are committed to catching them young.”
In his remarks, Tony Pemu, Chief Executive Officer of Hideaplus Nig. Ltd., said activities towards the commencement of the 2017 competition had commenced with the inauguration of the Local Organising Committee.
He said the competition, which would feature teams from about 1,600 secondary schools in Delta, was expected to kick off on Wednesday, while the finals would come up sometime in February 2018.
Pemu said: “Let me say also that we have brought in several innovations this time around, which were not in the last edition of the competition, such as branded jerseys, football kits, et cetera.
“All these are meant to upscale our game and benchmark international best practices. We have also tightened our procedure on verification of players.
“The 2017/2018 edition of the competition will be better in all ramifications and is expected to yield bountifully in the discovery of young talents in the football game.”
He further disclosed that expectations are high, just as he assured that the organisers were committed to delivering on the vision of Zenith Bank-sponsored Delta Principals’ Cup.
He said: “This is the aim of discovering and nurturing budding talents.”
Lucky Ighade, Zenith Bank’s Zonal Manager in Delta, assured the State Government of the bank’s readiness to continue to support it to return the sports culture to the school system.
Ighade said: “The second edition of this competition will witness a more resounding feat and it is our expectation that the discovery of sports talents in our secondary school system will be of immense benefit to the state.”
Ighade said about 1,200 private schools and about 400 public schools across the state have indicated their interest to participate in the second edition of the annual competition.
MasterCare International Schools of Asaba emerged winners of the first edition of the competition held in April.