Director General of Nigeria’s biggest grassroots
football tournament, the Bayelsa Governor's Tournament, tagged the Prosperity
Cup, Mr. Ono Akpe has attributed the success recorded in the tournament to
governor Diri’s unwavering passion to grassroots sports development.
This year’s spectacle is expected to kick off this month across the eight local
government areas in the state in 24 centers in a three category competition,
which has male, female and the para category.
Mr. Akpe in an interview with journalists ahead of the tournament's kick-off,
said the governor is passionate to see that the youths in the state earn a
living through sports, pointing out that the state helmsman's love for sports
was the reason behind the tournament's continuous innovation.
According to him, the governor’s direct involvement in the competition has
driven members of the Central Organizing Committee (COC) to give their very
best, maintaining that the local government level of the competition was the
governor’s idea to ensure that players who did not make it to the
money-spinning stage will also have the opportunity of being watched by foreign
scouts.
He noted that apart from increasing the prize money of one million naira for
local government champions and five hundred thousand naira for runner up, that
this edition would see all the outstanding players in the LGA’s selected to
form a team that would move to the second round, describing last LGA final as a
resounding success.
On the selected local government teams, Mr. Akpe explained that the essence of
the local government selected teams was to ensure that no good player is left
out because he exited the tournament in the preliminary round, saying that this
year’s edition would witness Most Valuable Player award (MVP) in every match.
With the sale of registration forms for season seven currently ongoing, the DG
believes that more players from this season would join the players who are on
the verge of traveling to Turkey, Malta and Lithuania for greener pasture,
noting that five players from the previous scouting programme are set to leave
the country with their visas already sorted out.
Mr. Akpe asserted that the vision of the organizers at the end of the season
seven was to see more than ten players plying their trade with different
European clubs, stating that the organizers of the showpiece are desirous to
give the youths in the state a better life.
He stressed that the reports from the security agencies whenever the competition
is on, speaks volume of the impact the showpiece has made in the state.
He further explained that each team is entitled to sets of jerseys in both
male, female and para soccer including coaches, goalkeepers as well as
tournament match balls, maintaining that over 250 teams receive sets of jerseys
every year and another set of jerseys for any team that qualifies to the next
phase of the competition.
Mr. Akpe hinted that talks are ongoing with Spanish La Liga for a potential
partnership to train local coaches in the state. The reason for the exposure is
to make our coaches great gaffers in the future and as well market the brand,
prosperity cup to foreign clubs.
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