Segun James
As part of their contributions to combat restiveness among youths in the state, Senior Special Assistants to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu have come together under the BOS Academy to organise the first edition of the BOS Youth Cup.
The maiden edition of the BOS Youth Cup would focus on a football competition for youths under-21 years across all Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) within the State.
The BOS Youth Cup like other youth-based strategies of Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is one of the opportunities for the youths of the State to explore, achieve their potentials and come into the limelight, as well as unlocking the doors for discovering budding talents and serve as a catalyst for the development of the local league and forming the pivot for recruitment into our National team.
The competition will also empower many youths and further create business opportunities for other stakeholders with a multiplier effect on the State’s economy in line with the vision of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu led administration to actively engage the teeming youths of Lagos State for a more robust economic development.
Speaking at a press conference held yesterday at the Bagauda Kaltho, Alausa, Ikeja, to kick off the football competition, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Sports, Mr. Anthony Adeyinka Adeboye, disclosed that online registration was already ongoing through a dedicated website www.bosyouthcup.com.
Adeboye, who expressed optimism that latent talents would be discovered that would impact positively on not just the youths alone, but also on the State in the long run, said the final stage of the BOS Youth Cup would take place at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Arena, Onikan, with Governor Sanwo-Olu himself handing the trophy to the winning team.
Adeboye said the ‘BOS Youth Cup’, which is one of the key programmes under Governor’s ‘THEMES’ developmental agenda strategically put in place ‘For a Greater Lagos’, will directly have positive impacts on individual families, the communities and the State at large.
Speaking on the modalities for selecting players, the Chairman of the Lagos State Football Association Technical Committee, Mr. Dotun Coker, said trials for the tournament would commence from this week to select players representing each local council, while the grand finale of the competition would hold at Mobolaji Johnson Sports Arena, Onikan.
In his remark, a 1996 Olympic Gold medalist in football and former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Mr. Joseph Dosu, thanked Governor Sanwo-Olu for prioritising sports development, commended the SSAs for the tourney and expressed hope that it would lead to the discovery of talents just like his.
He also commended the commitment of the Governor for bringing the national team back to play at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere and the Mobalaji Johnson Stadium, Onikan, adding that the development has revived football in Lagos.
