*Governor announces N1m cash for winners
By; MUSA KUTAMA, Calabar
The Governor Ben Ayade U-15 Football Tournament has ended in Calabar, Cross River State with Community Secondary School, Yala emerging winners.
The team beat Government Secondary School Akim 2-0 to win the two-week tournament that attracted about 300 secondary schools in the state.
Chairman of the State’s Sports Commission, Orok Duke, who is the organizer, told New Nigerian Sports that the tournament is in honour of the state governor and aimed at boosting youth sports in the state.
“The bottom line is still in keeping with our own policy that we try to honour those who do well, honour those while they are still alive, we have transferred that from Etubom Duke to Governor Ben Ayade for giving us the mandate to try and reposition sports. We want to encourage him to do more.
“This particular U-15 tournament is a grassroots programme and we intend to capture these athletes and harness their immense potentials at the different levels of the state so that together we would have an U-15 team. After this, we will go ahead with athletics. Here we are with the
limited facilities we have, hoping and praying that we would be able recreate a lot of activities in other senatorial districts,” he said.
Also speaking, Special Adviser on Public Affairs to Senator Ayade, Mr. Tony Udiandeye, who represented the governor at the final, said “the governor is very happy with the sports
commission for the competition.
“For the students, we want to assure you that what the governor has done today through the chairman of the sports commission is to tell you that by next year, this competition will be improved. So even if you came and did not play, you should go back and do better than you did today and come back next year. You could cart away a prize close to N1 million next year.
