Excitement As School Sports Governor's Cup Debuts ln Osun

 

Excitement As School Sports Governor's Cup Debuts ln Osun

  

As part of the overarching drive to put Osun State ahead of the curve in sports development through talent discovery and add a new dimension to sports development niche in the state, the maiden edition of the state School Sports Governor's Cup.

Ataoja School Of Science, Osogbo and  Orolu Commercial High School, Ifon Osun will square things up in the official kick-off billed for 10am on Tuesday at Ataoja Sports Complex, Osogbo.

The football tournament which is being sponsored by Peculiar Ultimate Concern Limited in collaboration with School's Sports Foundation, is meant to mainstream talent discovery in schools and designed for secondary school students participation to be hosted by the six(6) geopolitical zones of Osogbo, Ede, Ikirun, Iwo, Ife and Ilesha.

Kola Adewusi, Osun State Deputy Governor- Commissioner for Sports, and Osun State Commissioner for Education, Dipo Eluwole, are the guests of honour.

 

Speaking at the press briefing by the organizers of the competition, Coach Yomi Elijah and Alhaji Olayiwola Olafiranye of School Sports Foundation, said: "The competition will commence on Tuesday and its billed to run for two(2) weeks, subsequently it will be a state-wide annual event that will involve representatives from each of the local governments of the six(6) geopolitical zones. It will co-opt the students, principals and other sports stakeholders from each zone across the state. 

  

"Osun State is richly blessed with a pool of talents that are waiting to be taped and the best way to go about this is discovering them from schools. This competition is modeled along that of Principals' Cup, but with added touch to it. It will among others reduce youths involvement in delinquency and other social vices. 

"Rewards will be handed out to all participating schools and six(6) top teams will qualify from the zones to the quarter finals, while two(2) best losers will be picked to complete eight(8) teams on the quarter finals. Also, logistics will be provided to all the participating schools accordingly."

The Director of Coaching at Osun State Sports council, Ademola Daini, who was full of ecstasy and joy intoned; "The governor has approved feeders teams for the state's football clubs and other sports across the state. This School Sports Governors Cup will solidify and straighten the synergy to produce budding talents for these feeders teams. We are deeply grateful to the sponsors and organizers of this wonderful competition."

Meanwhile, the zonal qualifiers are to be hosted across the six(6) zones as thus:

Osogbo Zone—Ataoja School Of Science, Osogbo

Ede Zone—Ede High School, Ede.

Iwo Zone—Oluwo Stadium, Iwo

Ife Zone—Ife Anglican Grammar School, Ile-Ife

Ikirun Zone—Odo-Otin Grammar School, Okuku

Ilesha Zone— Ilesha Grammar School, Ilesha

Osogbo will host the knockout rounds and the grand finale.

SmartCity Osun FA League: Super Eagles Goalkeeper's Trainer Storms League Centres Thumbs Osun FA

 

SmartCity Osun FA League: Super Eagles Goalkeeper's Trainer Storms League Centres Thumbs Osun FA

Silver winning Super Eagles goalkeeper's trainer, Olatunji Abideen Baruwa MON, has thumbed the structure, initiatives and proactiveness of Osun State Football Associations towards the developments of the game and in particular, the tech driven SmartCity Osun State Football League.

Baruwa who returned to the state recently surprisingly appeared in two centres, Ataoja High School Pitch and Osogbo High School Pitch respectively on Sunday.

Former Head Coach of Osun Utd., who was received by Associations chief, Mayor Olushola Fanawopo, was made to perform ceremonial kick-off before Orolu Feeders and Divine FA llesha locked horns.

"Truly, Osun State is a home of grassroots soccer. There's no way we can reclaim the lost glory if we fail to return to grassroots. Osun State has in time past had the likes of one time Secretary of Nigeria Football Associations, Late Chief Taiwo Joseph Ogunjobi, Chief Ademola Adesina, Dr. Felix Owolabi, Kazeem Babatunde, Rabiu Afolabi, Suraj Sodiq amongst others, they are all products of grassroot football. Osun FA is changing the face of football and they must be encouraged." Baruwa, who's the current goalkeeper's trainer of Solid Miners stated.

Thirty two (32) clubs are currently participating in the league, housed in four conferences with over 700 players. The week one duels recorded 38 goals in sixteen games, two away wins, five draws and nine home wins.

It's unprecedented in Osun State following the success recorded in the first week, sixteen matches across federal constituencies with BlackdrumTV beaming games in real life. The league has other partners such as, Armstrong Paints, Trumax Pharmaceuticals, Desarrollar, Threadsandus, foremost data company, Sportalytics and Sotera Water.

Osun State Government Closed Down Osogbo Township Stadium In Preparation for Second Stanza Of NNL.

 Osun State Government Closed Down Osogbo Township Stadium In Preparation for Second Stanza Of NNL.

Osun State Government has issued a directive for the closure of the Main Bowl of Osogbo Township Stadium barring all activities in order to put the turf in good shape before the resumption of the second half of NNL season.

The decision was unanimously agreed upon today at a meeting between the Government and the stakeholders.

The Deputy Governor who also doubles as the Commissioner for Sports, Prince Kola Adewusi who was represented by the Director of Sports, Coaching and Training Osun State Sports Council, Mr Ademola Daini made it known that over usage of the field is hindering the growth of the grass. Hence, there is the need to close down the main bowl from all sporting activities and all other events in order for the field to be in good state pending the NNL resumption.

 " We need to minimize the usage of the main bowl in order for proper maintenance. Closing it down will allow the grass to rest and grow well. The stadium management will have ample time to swing into acting of wetting and applying manure to enhance the growth of the grass." Said Mr Daini.

In their separate remarks, the Chairman of Osun United FC, Mr Akin Maxwell and the Chairperson of Osun Babes FC, Mrs Tola Usman thanks the state government for the measure taken while promising to abide by the closure instruction by seeking alternatives for their training activities.

Also present at the meeting were, the Secretary of Osun Babes FC, Mrs Ronke Ogunbanwo, the Secretary of Osun United FC, Oyewale Taoheed, The TM of Osun Babes FC, Mr Wole Animasahun, the Chief Coach of Osun United FC, Seye Ajayi, the Chief Coach of Osun Babes FC,  Adebayo Adesina and the Media Officers of Osun United FC and Osun Babes FC, Seyi Akanni and Oluwaseun Omolola.

SmartCity Osun State Football League: Hammola Pummels Brilliant Utd, Elebuibon Boys, Hommydays Share Spoils In Season Opener

 SmartCity Osun State Football League: Hammola Pummels Brilliant Utd, Elebuibon Boys, Hommydays Share Spoils In Season Opener 

It's a new dawn in Osun football as the ecosystem is experiencing a thrilling turn around. As SmartCity Osun State Football League finally kicked off in style amidst glitz and glamour, the much talked about opening worths its hype.

Soccer fans thronged Osogbo Township Stadium with excitement as early as 10am on Tuesday, 13th February 2024, to witness soccer artistry as the league finally kickstarts.

The opening fixtures set up high flying Elebuibon Boys and ambitious Hommydays FA in a classical clash as two sides battled veraciously under a clement atmosphere. Dominant Elebuibon Boys ran riots in fisrt half courtesy of a brace from Jayeola Tolu under four minutes, as Alex Ossai reduced the deficit for Hommydays just before the break. Upon resumption, Homidays forward Joseph Gideon capitalised on opponents defensive mishap to level the scores (2-2), as the scoreline remain unchanged till regulation time.

The second match witnessed a five goal thriller as it's all Hammola Feeders affairs, scoring four times through Shittu Yusuf, Ariwoola Toheeb, Adigun Ismail and Segun Moses while Adewuyi Nurein of Brilliant United provided a consolation goal in all local derby duel.

Foremost paintmaker, Armstrong Paints, rewarded the outstanding players in Jayeola Tolu and Yusuf Shittu with gifts. Osun FA supremo Mayor Sola Fanawopo lauded the state government, headline sponsor, SmartCity and corporate partners and further assured hitchfree season. He stated that the gains of the tourney would be too numerous to mention as the platform is set up for lads to take their career to next level.

Osun State Deputy Governor cum commissioner for Sports Prince Kola Adewusi led other top government functionaries to perform the ceremonial kick off, while notable football administrators, scouts, ex-internationals, football stakeholders, football writers and content providers were also thrilled by the young guns.

SmartCity Osun State Football League powered by Osun State Football Associations will feature over 704 players across 4 Conferences, has BlackdrumTV as the league broadcast partners. Other partners include, Trumax Pharmaceuticals, Sportalytics, Threadsandus, Desarrollar and Sotera Water.