Over fifty private schools in Nigeria will be competing for N1.5 million prize at the maiden Private School Games (PSG) competition taking place later this year.
School Games Limited, the organisers of the competition is collaborating with the Association of Private Educators in Nigeria (APEN) and the Lagos State ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development, said the schools will compete in various sporting activities such as football, basketball, volleyball, handball, table tennis, lawn tennis, swimming, boxing, fencing, and track and field events.
The school with the most points in all the activities will be crowned winner of the competition and awarded N1.5 million. The second and third positions will receive N1 million and N500,000 respectively.
According to the organisers of the annual event, PSG hopes to inspire millions of young sports enthusiasts across Nigerian schools, who will participate in the sporting event. It will also forster healthy friendships and interactions amongst children from diverse ethnicities.
“For us, it is an expression of hope in the coming generation and their hidden potentials beyond the conventional formal education,” Adeyemi Egbeoluwa, founder of PSG, said. “I have come to realise that sport competitions are key to the all-round development and growth of our children. It is important to quantify, identify and aggregate the total contribution of private school talents to the pool of young and emerging sports men and women across the country.”
He also disclosed that the games will also bring attention to the young talents in private schools which could someday represent the count in private schools. Private competitions are not many in the country, whereas, public schools are availed many opportunities often driven by government sponsorship at the national and state level.
School Games Limited believes it can bridge the gap and be the platform where private schools talents can be discovered and nurtured.
“Over the years, government-run schools have produced some of the country’s most celebrated athletes globally. The games will extend this challenge to private school schools to get more children interested in sports and possibly, pursuing a career in same. Competitions play a significant role in motivating students to effectively channel physical, mental and emotional strength for excellence performance while reinforcing the possibility mentality in young learners,” the organisers stated in a press release.
The competition kicks off from November 29 and ends 2 December, 2014. It is open to private schools across the country. The organisers said it has confirmed schools from Rivers, Abuja, Oyo and Osun which will be participating in the event slated to hold in Lagos.
