The Director-General, Lagos State Sports Commission, Oluwatoyin Gafaar, says the team going for the 20th edition of National Sports Festival (NSF) in Edo will be based on the merit and not numbers.
Gafaar stated this in a statement issued on Sunday by the commission’s Director of Public Relations, Mrs Titi Oshodi-Oke, after a zoom meeting with sports association chairmen, athletes, coordinators, coaches and secretaries.
He said that after months of rigorous training by the coaching and technical teams of various sports associations, the state would be attending the festival with its best athletes.
The festival had been rescheduled for between Feb. 14 and Feb. 28, in Benin City, Edo capital.
The Lagos team closed camp at Anglican House, Bariga, will end on Feb. 13 after which the contingent will depart for Edo same day.
“We are going to the NSF with fit and prepared athletes who are ready to represent Lagos. These athletes need to work extra hard to get back to fitness before the festival.
“We are concentrating on sports in which we have comparative advantage and our best athletes are those to be camped. It is not going to be a jamboree,” he said.
The director-general further stated that all the athletes selected to represent the state at the festival would be made to sign code of conduct forms, while their parents would also sign indemnity on their behalf.
He urged all coaches, coordinators and sport association secretaries to work together for the success of the open and closed camp, while assuring that the commission would compliment it by ensuring that all necessary logistics needed for the camping were provided.
“We need a united force for us to have a successful national sports festival project this year,” the director-general said. (NAN)
