By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON, Kaduna.
Arewa Football Academy stunned hosts Alausa Babes 2-0 in the official opening ceremony of the maiden edition of Engineer Musa Nimrod YSFON Super Cup played at the Maimuna Gwarzo Primary School football pitch in Kaduna on Sunday.
The visitors scored both goals in the first half of the match, leaving the hosts desperate to cancel the goals with no success.
In spite of several attempts at goal by both teams in the second half, a goal drought was witnessed, with Alausa’s efforts frustrated by the goal keeper of the Arewa side, who on average, saved twenty shots on target.
In an interview with newsmen after the game, sponsor of the competition, Engineer Musa Nimrod, who is the Chairman of Nigeria Beach Volleyball Federation, as well as the Zonal Representative (North West) of the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF) said he is bankrolling the competition to develop young talents.
Nimrod said that he was impressed with the skills he saw on display, expressing optimism that by next season, one or two of the players he saw play would be playing for league teams.
He said that most of those who were there to watch the game have been engaged positively, keeping them away from vices which they would have been attracted to ordinary if they were left idle at that particular time.
“As you can see, the Kaduna State Government is represented here, so the government on its own is willing to do more for sports. The government alone cannot do it, so we have to support the government,” he said.
Nimrod who is also the Chairman of Kaduna Volleyball Association when asked if it would be an annual tournament, said that they would observe and see the impact it would create before drawing conclusion on the way forward.
Also speaking, the secretary of the Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON), Kaduna State Chapter, Malam Abdulrazak Usman said that by organizing the competition, they have not only intervened in grassroots sports development, but have gone a long way in preparing the fans that would go to watch league matches at the stadia.
“We are also taking the issue of developing the game at the community level seriously, which is one huge impact that this tournament would create,” he said.
He explained that recently, Kaduna YSFON organized a seminar that educated several stakeholders within the state on the laws of the game of football.
“You can see that even though they were defeated at home, we did not bring in security, but they all understand and there are no issues,” he added.
Some notable dignitaries spotted at the opening ceremony included the Kaduna State Director of Sports, Yusuf Yamai Joshua, Kaduna State Football Association Secretary, Alhaji Abdussalam Jere and the Kaduna State Chairman of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), Mr. Isaiah Benjamin, among others.
In the first leg of the match, both teams had played a 1-1 draw at the Federal Cooperative College, Gonin-Gora, the home ground of Arewa Academy.
