By Adeyemi Robinson-Adefioye Lagos
The newly-elected President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Uyi Akpata, has set a target of recruiting 250, 000 youths nationally into the game, as one of the core pursuits of his team during his term as President.
In a statement made in Abuja, shortly after the inaugural meeting of the board, he said, his team is set to build on the existing structure of the former board (which he served as Vice-President), where 16 Regional Development Officers were recruited to lead training and development across the country.
According to him, “We have 16 field officers that we recruited across the country, during the last board, so what we would do is to quickly get 20 others, so that other states and the Federal Capital territory have those development officers as well. With that structure, each state and zones have targets in terms of number of players they should reach each year. This forms the bedrock of the 250, 000 (yearly recruitment), we are aiming at.”
He also said that the Federation would invest in high impact centers in each state where the Federation would encourage the schools to converge and have their students take a deeper dive and exposure to the game.
To demonstrate the urgency of the task, the board dispatched four training kits to Kebbi, Kwara, Plateau and Gombe states through the secretariat in Abuja on Friday October 1st.
The Nigeria Cricket Federation was recognized twice as for its development effort by the game’s ruling body International Cricket Council, ICC, and the continental body, ICC-Africa, in recent years.
Akpata says this structure would form the basis for the different age-grade championships starting from the Under 15 and Under 17, which eventually will produce players for the national Under 19 teams.
He added that, “We are going to encourage the zones to have secondary school tournaments. What you are going to see is zonal representatives; my colleagues on the board, devoting almost eighty percent of their time working on really developing the zones.” He added.
He further informed that what his team is setting up is a system that will translate to a more predictable outcome for different national teams. He added that with the ongoing upgrade of playing surfaces to grass wickets, the players can be better prepared for international events from home.
In conclusion, he said that the Federation would be meeting with all stakeholders under a month of the board’s election, to present their plans, listen to recommendation and canvass their partnership to steer the Federation an enviable position.
“We are hopeful for a very fruitful and engaging four years ahead and we would be glad to have all hand on deck with us in achieving this.”. He concluded.
