AS part of the efforts of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu led administration to curb restiveness and promote sports and youth development in Lagos State, the Senior Special Assistants (SSAs) to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu have come together under the BOS Academy to organize the first edition of the BOS Youth Cup.
The maiden edition of the BOS Youth Cup would focus on football competition for youths under 21 years across all Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) within the State.
While speaking at a press conference held on Sunday, October 24, 2021, at the Bagauda Kaltho, Alausa, Ikeja, to kick start the football competition, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Sports, Mr. Anthony Adeyinka Adeboye, said; “Part of the vision of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu led administration is to actively engage the teeming youths of the State for a more robust economic development. This is a deliberate policy of Mr. Governor due to the very important position the youth demographic occupies in the country’s population.
“Records show that the youths occupy about 45 percent of Nigeria’s population and when broken down to States, Lagos has the highest number of the youth demographic in Nigeria, standing at 54 percent. To this end, Mr. Governor believes that the focus should be on the youth population hence the creation of many interventions across different spheres of life, speaking to the specific needs of the youths in the State.
“The Governor also recognizes the myriad challenges facing today’s youth and as government, the Governor and his Executive team have vowed to tackle those challenges head-on in line with the ‘THEMES’ developmental agenda and Second Pillar, Goal 3 of the Lagos Resilience Strategy, which is a plan to prepare the youth for a changing economy.”
Speaking on the modalities for selecting players, the Chairman of the Lagos State Football Association Technical Committee, Mr. Dotun Coker, said trials for the tourney would commence this week to select players representing each LGA, while the grand finale of the competition would hold at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Arena, Onikan.
He reiterated that trials of eligible players with LASSRA cards and shortlisting of 23 players, comprising three Goalkeepers and 20 outfield players, will take place at LGAs/LCDAs level for Intra-scouting matches among the councils to select All-Star Players for the 20 LGAs.
He added that the 20 LGAs shall be transparently drawn into five groups of four teams each and each local government will play three matches in a league in their groups totaling six matches in a group.
According to Coker, the top teams in each group and three best Team losers will qualify for the Quarterfinal in a knock-out format leading to the Semi-Final, 3rd place, and final matches.
He also disclosed that a seminar will be organized for key stakeholders in the 20 LGAs where the rules and regulations of the event will be explained to them.
Mr. Adeboye disclosed that interested applicants can register online through www.bosyouthcup.com.
Signed:
Mr Gboyega Akosile
Lagos Chief Press Secretary
