By Adeyemi Robinson-Adefioye, Lagos
The Nigeria Cricket Federation Please, Professor Yahaya Ukwenya has said the entry of close to 300 female Cricketers from 21 states last weekend for the on-going PwC National Under-17 Cricket Championship bodes well for the Country as a whole.
According to him, “The effort that has been invested at the state level to raise these players to the competitive stage will be taken to a higher level at the national level.
“In our five strategic imperatives that we set from the beginning of the administration; making a conscious effort to allow equal development along gender lines was key for us.”
Ukwenya also added that some created upsets also underscores the hard work and passion they brought to the regional event “Examples is Ekiti state who shoved aside Oyo state, regional champion in the South West and humbled Lagos state in the last match has proven that development is not exclusive to major cities anymore.
“We also had Kogi State girls show brilliance to dominate the North Central region; where FCT, Kwara, and Niger were also competing,” he said.
He said some exceptional talents have been spotted that are good drafts to the national teams (U-19 Female and Women National) and he believes would position the country for a good run on the continent in no distance future.
Secretary-General of the Federation Taiwo Oriss added that these talents will give the now deepened technical team a robust pool and options when national trials for any of the event comes up.
“Despite following the strict Covid Rules, the regional finals for girls last weekend have been perhaps the best we have had and we hope to step up the conditions when the boys’ regional event gets underway in the coming weekend,” he said.
Newly appointed National Coach, Ashanka Gurusinha has been following all the reports from the game from his base in Abuja with all the statistics and reports generated.
The PwC National Under 17 Championship is the biggest platform by the federation for expressing Cricket talents among youths across the country.
The boys’ regional finals is scheduled for this week from Thursday, January 21 to Sunday, January 24, in six centers across the country.
