The Director of Grassroots sports development, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports, Dr Ademola Are has praised the nation’s youth athletes who won medals at the 2018 National Sports Festival in Abuja.
Dr Are told www.aclsports.com that the aim and objectives of the yearly developmental program is gradually paying off.
He commended the youth athletes who defeated former National Champions to become the newly crowned champions in the respective sports.
He said, “One of core objectives of the National Youth Games is to identify talents and nurture them to stardom. The performances at the National Sports Festival show that we are really growing, we are achieving the objectives for the games.
“I was particularly overwhelmed when I heard some of the National Youth Games athletes defeated former National senior champions in events like athletes, cricket, Judo and Wrestling”.
Dr Are charged the respective sporting federations to continue engage the Youth athletes in their programs.
“The federation are doing their best by engaging the Youth athletes in some of their programs and the states where these athletes come from are expected to continue to nurture them until they achieve the best”, he said.
He told www.aclsports.com that the performances of the athletes at the 2018 Olympic Youth Games in Argentina was above average.
He said, “You will quite agree with me that the children did their utmost best and they made Nigeria proud. They performed excellently well and we were not disgraced”.
He revealed that athletes below 16 years who participated at the National Sports Festival are still eligible to partake in this year’s National Youth Games in Ilorin.
Are said, “All of them who are under 16 are still eligible to partake in the 2019 National Youth Games in ilorin, Kwara State even though they took part in the National Sports Festival since they are below the age bracket”.
