7th April, 2019
The Scrabble Players Association has appealed to Government and Corporate organisations in the country to assist the association through sponsorship.
Mr Anthony Ikolo, National Coach of the Association made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Benin on Sunday, at the end of the association’s Three-day Third Phase selection series.
Ikolo said that though the nation was doing very well in world competitions, the funding and sponsorship of the game had been a major challenge faced by the association.
He appealed to government and corporate organisations to give scrabble the kind of attention given to sports like football, basketball and athletics.
He told NAN that the selection series was to select the country’s 11 best players who would represent the nation in the World English Scrabble Players Association Championship (WESPAC) billed for Oct. 15 to 20 in Goa, India.
He explained that Nigeria in 2017 retained the championship it won in 2015 and came out as the first runner up in the individual category.
Similarly, Mr Bright Idahosa, Coach of the Edo chapter, called on government to boost interest in the game among the populace.
Idahosa said that the game was a mind sport and should be given its pride of place in the society.