Nigeria: Team Lagos Depart for Festival

Adeolu Johnson

28 June 2011

Lagos — The Lagos State contingent to the 17th National Sports Festival yesterday left for Port-Harcourt, the venue of the Games ready for action.

The team departed after a special prayer session held at the the Rowe Park, Yaba, Lagos. Team Lagos, which comprises of 590 athletes and coaches, will compete in 23 sports at the festival. In the selection of the athletes, focus was on talents displayed by the various athletes at trial competitions held at Ibile Games (the acronym for the state sports festival) and other trials organised by the Lagos State Sports Council and its affiliate sport associations.

Speaking on the level of preparedness of Team Lagos, the Director of Sports, Lagos State Sports Council, Adewunmi Ogunsanya, said attention was placed on picking the best athletes that Lagos parades, adding that as usual with Team Lagos, attention was also placed on breeding discipline and committment.

According to him, most of the athletes are keen to give their all to excel in the colours of Lagos State and they have promised to return to Lagos with medals.

The Lagos State Sports Council commenced camping of athletes on June 3 for two weeks with 951 athletes before the selection of athletes for the closed camp that emerged as Team Lagos.

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