After recent successes recorded in the national football scene, Bayelsa State is set to kick start a developmental football fiesta to catch them young.
The state it will be recalled won the men’ s FA Cup courtesy of Bayelsa United while Bayelsa Queens also emerged champions in the women FA Cup competition this term.
And so the government of Bayelsa has decided to start the Principals Cup football competition for all secondary schools in the state with the aim of breeding future champions for the state and the country at large.
Only on Thursday, Bayelsa State signed a Memoradium of Understanding with a sports marketing firm to stage the maiden edition of the Bayelsa Principals Cup later this year.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in Government House, Yenagoa, the Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, expressed delight over development aimed at identifying and grooming young talents in sports.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, the Deputy Governor, noted that the development was coming at a time government is working towards raising another professional football team in state to further boost Bayelsa’s fortunes in football.
Ewhrudjakpo, who said sports had contributed greatly to the overall development and unity of the country, expressed the belief that the forthcoming Bayelsa Principals Cup will be beneficial to the state.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Hon Daniel Igali, said he was confident that the talents to be discovered in the Principals’ Cup competition will be groomed to form the nucleus of the nation’s future age grade teams.
“We are happy to be planning the future for our young ones because we want the state to be number one in sports. What we are doing in football, will also be done in other sports to keep our youths busy,” Igali said.
