Stakeholders seek private sector’s involvement in school sports development

Stakeholders in education and sports have called on the private sector to join forces in driving school sports development, saying it provides an avenue for brand consciousness.

They made the call at a press conference to unveil the 9th edition of the Lagos State First-Generation Heritage Colleges Association (LAFGHECA), an intercollegiate sports competition.

Speaking during the press conference, Adedeji Owoeye, managing director/CEO, Golden Flower Global Services Limited, the franchisee for the LAFGHECA, said school sports present an opportunity for businesses to showcase their brands.

“We are appealing to the private sector to sponsor this sporting event because it holds numerous opportunities that sporadically amplify their brands and unimaginably increase their sales,” Owoeye said.

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The philanthropist believed that with proper collaboration and partnership with multi-national firms and government institutions, the event would produce young stars like Iga Swiatek, the Pole high school girl who became the youngest French Open winner in 2020, after defeating the USA Sofia Kenin in straight sets to win the Grand Slam.

Swiatek was a keen student who combines her tennis career with finishing high school where her favourite subject was mathematics. She made history in the 2020 French Open, by not only being the youngest to win the tournament but also the first person from Poland to lift the coveted trophy.

Owoeye said the 9th edition of the intercollegiate sports slated for Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), on April 9, 2022, would have 30 schools participating among which are Igbobi College, St. Finnbars College, Queens College, CMS Grammar School, Methodist Girls College, just as he hoped that the event would throw up many young talents in the sporting world.

Olusegun Olapeju, the founder of the LAFGHECA, speaking also, said the organisation was established in 2010 with the aim to use sports as tools to inculcate unity, inclusiveness, and brotherliness among the adolescents, besides discovering and developing young talents.