In accordance with its vision to revive the game of cricket in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and beyond through schools cricket development initiative, Engineer Emake Onyeama-led cricket association has held a one-day conference and seminar for selected school principals and other stakeholders on the development of cricket.
The convener of the schools cricket development initiative and chairman of FCT Cricket Association, Emake Onyeama, described schools as the starting point of cricket careers, saying the objective of the seminar was to introduce the game to the school principals who are the key primary stakeholders in cricket revival in the nation’s capital city through school development initiative.
“Today is the real beginning of our Abuja cricket revival. We are here today to speak to our friends and partners, the school principals. We tagged today ‘casting the vision and building partnerships’. The principals of the schools are the key primary stakeholders in our cricket revival and their schools are pilot schools. The benefits of cricket to the school, students, principals and sports officers are enormous boh at a corporate and personal levels,” Onyeama said.
According to the former president of Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), 13 secondary schools within the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) have been pencilled down to act as model and pilot schools. “We will be sending coaches to these schools to introduce the game of cricket and continue practice and development.
“The aim of our schools cricket initiative is for each of the selected schools to produce at least one male team and one female team. We would organise a competition to assess the level of development and for exposure and more learning. We also have objectives of infrastructural development in the schools.
“Cricket can help in growing a child both in terms of education, physical and partway for life. All of us know today that sports is no longer just an entertainment but big business. Sports is now taught in schools and there is even University for Sports, it is no longer for the mediocre or a joke.
“The principals here today will know that by the time they are grooming 22 players in their schools, there are over one thousand other people who are not playing this game but as those 22 are playing the game, the remaining people are all eyes on them.
“We as an association will support the schools and education ministry in what they are doing by providing them with the technical resource, capacity to make sure that our schools are in line with the sport development. So, part of what we are doing today, rather than introducing the game to the principals, we are going to cast it down and after this we would go to the game masters of the attendee schools here today in a major three day cricket introductory. The idea is that we want the game to develop,” he added.
The resource person who is the new technical consultant and cricket development coach for FCT, Mr Olisa Egwuatu, expressed his commitment toward ensuring the game of cricket comes to life in Abuja.
He said he will work with FCT sports officers, schools principals and game masters to inculcate the culture of cricket into the educational curriculum on growing children.
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