Coach urges Heritage Bank to sustain Skoolympics

Nosiru Bello, the National Coach of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation, on Friday urged the organisers of the three-day Skoolympics Games in Lagos to sustain the programme to enhance grassroots sports development.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the programme is aimed at building a heritage of champions through youth sports competition at the secondary school level.
The Games, which opened on Wednesday, is organised by Heritage Bank.
Bello told NAN at the Teslim Balogun Stadium venue of the Games that it was only through such programmes that budding talents could be identified and nurtured to stardom.
He said: “The skoolympics is a good initiative by the organisers and I wish they will be able to sustain the programme for many years to come.
“This is the kind of developmental programme we need in this country to revamp sports and increase youth participation.”
Bello said that government alone could not be saddled with the responsibility of promoting sport, appealing to corporate organisations to complement the effort of the government.
The coach added that talents identified at the table tennis event of the Games would be properly nurtured for future purpose.
“Over 100 students participated in table tennis; I also watched some of them play and I am impressed,” he said.
NAN reports that about 6,000 students from over 200 public and private schools in the state participated in basketball, athletics, handball, table tennis, swimming, athletics and others.
NAN.