Ajanaku Charges Youth To Embrace Education and Sports.

Hundreds of pupils who participated in the just concluded Lagos State Sports Council Holiday programme tagged 'Catch Them Young' at Rowe Park, Yaba.

The programme which is designed to regenerate school sports feature 11 team sports in Baasketball, Handball, Volleyball, Taekwondo, Table Tennis, Wrestling among others as over four hundred athletes participated in the three day exercise.

A cross section of the athletes who spoke with our correspondent, said the programme had pave the way for them to acquint themselve with the sport council as they were motivated to take to different sports of their choice.

To Sulaiman Agunnoye, basketball is a sport which he admired to play but he does not have the chance to train to acquire necessary skills as the Holiday programme stand as a better means to meet new friends as well as to make a future in the
sports which is fast developing in the state.

The Permanent Secretary, Deputy Governor office, Adekunle Ajanaku, who commended the sports council for deeming it necessary to stage the event, appealed to the pupils to active sports without losing the focus of being educated, stressing that sports and education are vital tools that could make them successful in life.

Ajanaku, said the present administration of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola would always fashion out programmes that would pave the way for them to excel in their chosen endeavor, adding that the Governor who is a lover of sports recently
endorsed FIFA One Goal Project.

The Permanent Secretary who declared the programme closed encouraged the sports council not to relent in its efforts in organising series of sporting activities to keep the youth away from criminal activities and also to discover budden talents especially at a time when the state is hosting the next National Sports Festival in 2012.

An elated Chairman of the Sports Council Agboola Dabiri, who thanked the Permanent Secretary for gracing the ocassion, assured that the council would not fail in its responsibilities to keep the council alive with series of sporting activities to discover new athletes who would form the new face of Lagos State future athletes.

Agboola, explained some of the athletes who took part in the event might not feature in the next National Sports Festival but the best among them would be encouraged to continue training at the sports council with the support of their coaches.

The council's female Baminton coach, Maria Omoneyin,regarded the event as a programme for future stars who are likely to over from the established badminton players in next couple of years, adding that the kids were introduced to basic techniques of the sport.

To Abiodun Oyewuwo, the head coach of Lagos State Gymnastic Association, the event came at a rime when the association needs a large number of Gymnastics who would be taught the latest skills