2016 U-15 Copa Coca-Cola Tourney Enters Regional Stage
All is set for the regional stage of the 2016 U-15 Copa Coca-Cola competition as 32 schools from across the federation had qualified for the tournament.
Rockford Junior College, Ikorodu, emerged winner of the Lagos grassroots finals.
On Thursay at the Legacy Pitch of the National stadium, Surulere, Rockford pummeled Jibowu Junior School 7-0 to qualify for the next stage of the competition.
Commenting on the match, the Marketing Director, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Patricia Jemibewon, expressed her delight at the display of football artistry by the teenagers, noting that Coca-Cola would continually provide platforms to support teenagers’ passions.
Jemibewon said, “Coca-Cola is committed to the overall development of young Nigerians, especially teenagers. Research had shown that beyond being just a sporting activity, football plays a huge role in the development of teenagers because of the values they learnt from playing, which include determination, friendship, hard work, and responsibility.
All of these skills are useful for the future, hence; Coca-Cola is committed to promoting the game of football among teenagers.”
Some of the ex-international football stars present at the venue including Victor Ikpeba, Tajudeen Disu and Henry Nwosu commended Coca-Cola for expanding the scope of the Copa Coca-Cola competition to accommodate more participation.
According to Ikpeba, “Many of the football stars you see today began their career from competitions such as this. Expanding the scope of the competition to accommodate 60,000 players is really huge and commendable. I am happy to be a part of a platform that is transforming grassroots football in Nigeria.’’
On his part, the representative of the National President, Nigerian Schools Sports Federation (NSSF), HRH Dairo Olutayo remarked that Coca-Cola’s involvement in Nigerian grassroots football has created opportunities for thousands of talented teenagers to express their passion.
