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About 900 athletes drawn from various secondary schools across Nigeria will converge at Teslim Balogun stadium from May 9th to June 17th, 2022 for the maiden edition of Nigerian Secondary School Flag Football League (NSSFFL)
The Games will run three days in a week at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, and it will be keenly contested by 20 male and 20 female teams drawn across private and public secondary schools in Lagos state.
The competition will be organized on a yearly basis to contribute to develop and spot talents abound in the country.
Speaking at the opening ceremony in Lagos, the founder of American Football League (NAFA) in Nigeria, Babajide Akeredolu, who spoke with NewsGuru.com (TNG) stated that the maiden edition is being organized in partnership with Lagos State government.
Akeredolu added that, American football birthed in Nigeria about two years ago, but officially kicked-off the resumption of the secondary league in the country with the aim to grow and create opportunity through the sports across the country, and plant the sports in regions that are receptive to their message of community and teamwork.
Akeredolu further explained that the competition will move round the country as years roll by.
He stated that FLAG football league was the first ever competition held on African soil, saying Nigeria has made history by being the first to organize such.
“We focused on this group first because we understand that competition at this stage in the development of young people unlocks opportunities for healthy habits, psychological growth and immediate opportunities for scholarships and recruitment for the most gifted players both at home and abroad,” Akeredolu stated.
He continued: “For us, the greatest achievement will be to see our young boys and girls channel their youthful energy into this highly rewarding sport helping the league give birth to something that will create a better economy.”
He added that talents discovered at the competition would be used to create a strong all-star team that could represent Lagos at inter-state competitions and also give them opportunity to make the national team that will be constituted in 2023.
“Beyond the young boys and girls engagements, we also have in our plans to start university league and community league to give everyone the opportunity to partake in our game. We recognize that NAFA is well positioned to lead Nigeria, and Africa on this journey of acceptance to domination of the sport.”
“The idea behind NAFA came when we discovered there were a lot of people that had a passion for American Football, so, we decided that as a country, we needed the structure that would allow the game to grow. A few of us that had passion for the game came together to build an association that would help grow the game.” He thanked Lagos Sports Commission and others for their morale and financial support.
The Chairman of Lagos Sports Commission, Mr Sola Aiyepeku, who was represented by Mrs Oluyomi Oluwasunmi, hinted that the Commission decided to support NAFA because it’s programmes allied with Lagos State on youth encouragement and education. “Within a short period of time, we have trained over 100 Games Masters and Games Mistress. The slogan of Lagos Sports Commission is Stay in School and Stay in Sports,” she stated.