27th September, 2011
Oyo State Government has reiterated its commitment to the development of tennis at the grassroots, saying that it is the best way of replacing the aged players with young talents.
Disclosing this at the weekend in Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, at the final of the maiden Ferrotogen U-18 boys and girls tennis championship, the state Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Oladapo Lam- Adesina, said: “Oyo State has abundant young talents at the grassroots. We shall groom the young talents for the state to regain its lost glory in sports’’.
LamAdesina, who presented prizes to winners at the finals, commended the sponsor company of the four-day event, Bond Group of Companies, Awe, Oyo State, maker of Ferrotogen.
The Sports Commissioner said: “With more companies like yours sponsoring sports at the grassroots, the state would become a home of world beaters in sports.â€
In his speech, the Deputy Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Babatunde Olaniyan, who represented the Speaker of the House, Mrs. Monsurat Sumonu, promised to create awareness for grassroots sports.
He stated that the House would ensure the creation of an enabling environment for more companies to sponsor grassroots sports.
Niyi Bamidele, Administrative Manager of the sponsor company, promised annual sponsorship of the competition, pointing out that the competition was solely designed to reawake the interest of the game of tennis in the minds of the young ones.
According to him, the maiden edition of the competition was designed for three states within Southwest zone, namely Oyo, Ogun and Lagos. He said by next year, the competition would be extended to other states in the zone.
Oyo State Chairman of Tennis Association, Gbolahan Sola, noted that dearth of competitions has been the bane of sports development in the country, stressing that the state would continue to appreciate any organisation that invests in sports development.
—Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan