NAN-S-9
Grassroots
By Victor Okoye
Abuja, July 19, 2017 (NAN) Retired Capt. Fatai Atanda, an official of the Nigeria Hockey Federation (NHF) says the National Youth Games (NYG) will impact positively on the grassroots development of the sport in the country.
Atanda told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that the inclusion of hockey in the Games by the National Sports Commission (NSC) was a welcome development.
NAN reports that the tournament for youths is expected to hold in Ilorin later in the year and hockey is one of the sports expected to feature at the national competition.
Atanda, who is the coaches, umpires and technical officials’ representative in the newly-elected NHF board, noted that other tournaments would precede the NYG, adding that youths were the future of the Games.
“As a preamble to the tournament, we are going to have the zonal competitions where winners will be selected for the national youth fiesta.
“This is indeed a very good one for the growth of hockey because it is a U-17 tournament.
“We are going to be able to select our national side at the end of the tournament that will represent the country in the Algiers African Games next year.
“So, this is a very good start and it will give us what we have always been clamouring for; youths that will come up to play at age group levels and then move into the national side.
“At the age of 18, most youths in Europe start playing for their national teams. Some get their first, second or third caps for their country at that age,’’ he said. (NAN)
VO/DS/PDE
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(Editing by Peter Ejiofor)