By Ikenna Nwokedi
Anambra State have qualified for Cricket, Volleyball and Beach Volleyball events of the upcoming 8th edition of the National Youth Games (NYG) scheduled to hold at Asaba, Delta State from 9th to 19th September, 2024.
Team Anambra who participated at the South East Zonal Elimination held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium Enugu have qualified to feature at the upcoming NYG in team events such as Cricket male category, Volleyball and Beach Volleyball both male and female categories but were not so lucky in Male Football and Male Handball events.
In Cricket, Team Anambra Male side defeated Ebonyi by 6 wickets having made 77 runs as against their opponents who made 76 runs. The side also got the better of the host, Enugu State with 9 wickets making a total of 21 runs.
In Volleyball, Anambra Male side qualified to represent the zone seeing off the challenge from Imo, Abia and Ebonyi as they won their three matches with a scoreline of 2 sets to nil each. Their Female counterparts also showed the stuff they were made of by winning two matches against their opponents in Imo and Ebonyi by 2 sets to nil respectively. For Beach Volleyball, Anambra and Ebonyi will represent the South East zone in the male category while for the female category, Anambra and Imo will fly the flag of the zone.
Reacting during an interaction with sports writers, the Director of Sports, Anambra State Sports Development Commission (ASSDC), Faith Okwonna expressed her delight with the performance of the contingent informing that the state qualified for three out of five team sports it entered for. Okwonna however lamented the issue of over aged athletes which almost marred the three-day competition as Anambra came with athletes that were below 15 years of age in accordance to the rules and regulations.
The ASSDC Director informed that the performance by the athletes were as a result of the Anambra Sports Solution Initiative (ANSSI), a brainchild of the ASSDC Chairman, Hon. Patrick Estate Onyedum.
Okwonna said: “I must commend the athletes for their performance at the Zonal Eliminations as we qualified in three events out of the five we registered for achieving a good outing in Male Cricket, Volleyball and Beach Volleyball male and female categories. This is as a result of our annual ANSSI programme as most of the athletes at these games were a product of the ANSSI.
“My only displeasure in that a proper screening was not done in accordance with the games rules and regulations as most of the athletes from other states were well above 15 years of age. Anambra came to this Zonal Eliminations with athletes below the age of 15 as the essence is to groom and produce the next generation of super stars and not to win at all cost,” Okwonna stated.
On his part, the ASSDC Director (Technical), Coach Emeka Obidinma affirmed that Team Anambra were at the Zonal Elimination with genuine athletes who are Under-15 years. The sports administrator stated that the aim of the NYG should be to catch them young and groom them to become champions in the near future and not to win at all cost.
The NYG South East Zonal Eliminations held from Thursday, 29th to Saturday, 31st August 2024 had Team Anambra featuring at the games with a 79-member contingent comprising of 64 athletes and 15 officials.
