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The Nigeria School Sport Federation says it’s seeking sponsors for the 2024 International School Sport Federation U-18 World School Cup for girls, which will take place in Dalian, China from May 16 to 27, after ending their trials on Tuesday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
After a two-day national trial inside the main bowl of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, which had over 300 girls from secondary schools across the country, the NSSF has selected 25 players for the tournament.
NSSF president, Olabisi Joseph, expressed excitement on the quality of talents at the body’s disposal and called on interested individual and corporate organisations to partner with the NSSF in order to provide an opportunity for the girls to showcase their talent at the global event.
“It’s been an intense two days and I’ve seen a lot of good work done by the coaches. I’m impressed that we had that kind of turn out and we are looking forward to the selected team making us proud in China,” Joseph said.
“In school sports, we say it is not all about winning but participation. The first thing we are excited about is that, for the first time in so many years, the Nigeria girls’ team at school level will be playing at the tournament.
“Based on that, I want to call on reputable organisations in Nigeria who want to kit the players or take care of camping expenses and other things to join us as we prepare a formidable team to represent Nigeria come May.”
A member of the NSSF football committee of NSSF, Faith Irabor was particularly excited with the talents displayed by the students while commending the NSSF for making the selection transparent.
National U-15 coach, Usman Ilerika, who led the technical crew in the selection process also lauded the structure put in place to select the players by NSSF while expressing optimism that the team would make the country proud in China.
The 25 players are expected to embark on a 10-day camp in Abuja, where the list will be pruned to 18.
