How We Got Cricket into the North-east, By Uyi Akpata

The third PricewaterHouse Coopers (PwC ) National Under-17 Cricket Championship, concluded at the M.K. O. Abiola National Stadium Abuja last Sunday recorded many firsts.

Out of these, President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Uyi Akpata, has picked the participation of North- eastern cricketers as topping his list.

“First and foremost, the ability to get kids engaged gives me joy and the success in getting the seemingly most impregnable part of the country to play the game, assemble a team and come participate with other kids from other part of the country is the ultimate for this edition.

“The National Under-17 Championship was conceived to actively engage the teeming Nigerian youths who by our current population standing represent the biggest demography the country has. Again, because the game also has the capacity to hand them some life skills, we saw it as a tool to drive both social and economic change,” Akpata stressed further.

The NCF president also noted that the groundworks for the inclusion of all states of the federation has been in works since the first edition of the Championship got off in 2019.

He said the masterplan for development was embedded in the five pronged. Strategic goal for the Federation, which had with it the plan to promote the game through grassroots development across the six geo-political zones.

“That drove the federation to recruit cricket coaches and development offices across the regions. As we speak, there is no state of the federation that we don’t have trained development officers manning a cricket office,” Akpata revealed further.

“Like every other thing, there were challenges as the coaches had to first win the trust of the parents before the kids can be released for the coaching sessions. Despite all the feat achieved so far, there are some kids that couldn’t make it to the finals because their parents wouldn’t give their assent to have them travel out of the state for national finals in Abuja.”

He however said the NCF was working at having more kids, share their experience of connecting with others from different parts of the country.

“The team from the North-East this year had players from Borno, Gombe and Taraba states. While we are deepening our works with those states, we are also looking at getting more kids recruited from other states not yet reached,” pledged the NCF president.

A total of 31 states entered for the Regional Qualifiers of the event from where the regional teams were selected for the national finals that ended on Sunday.

…Commends All-female Umpires that Officiated the Boys’ Final

The all-female umpires that officiated the Boys’ final of the just concluded PwC Under-17 Cricket Championship in Abuja, have been praised for their excellent handling of the event.

President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Mr Uyi Akpata, described the officiating of the clash between South-south and South-east as excellent.

Akpata, witnessed the finals of the event on Sunday at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja

“Cricket in Nigeria is developing in all areas, not just on the field of play but facility wise, the coaching aspect, umpiring and more.

“For the first time, in a top competition like the Under-17 event, we had an all-female umpire officiating the boys’ final. This is great to see and throughout the tournament there were no issues with the officiating. Its an excellent show, kudos to the team,’” stressed an obviously satisfied Akpata.

International Cricket Council (ICC) Level One certified umpire, Tope Onikoyi and Ashafa Modupe were the on-field umpires on the day while Aolat Isong was the third umpire.

On her part, Onikoyi, said she was happy to have officiated alongside other female colleagues adding that she sees a good future for female umpires.

“The game wasn’t a tough one for me because I officiate men’s league matches in Lagos and so, the final game was simply a normal one for me. I foresee a good future for female umpires in the country and more girls becoming interested in umpiring.

“Its right time for the female umpires around to begin to mentor the young ones, so as to get more girls involved in the sport,’’ Onikoyi added.

A total of 10 umpires officiated in the third edition of the PwC Under-17 Cricket Championship, with four of them ladies.