NCF/PwC U17 Cricket Championship: Organisers recounts successes as IDPs made debut
NCF/PwC U17 Cricket Championship: Organisers recounts successes as IDPs made debut
For the first time in the six editions of the NCF/PwC U17 National Cricket Championship, participants from Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Maiduguri, featured in the tournament.
According to Musa Ehizoje, the tournament’s director, the IDPs were introduced to the game of cricket in 2024 and were able to represent Borno in the girls’ category in the zonal qualifiers.
The Voice Media Trust (VMT NEWS) reports that the tournaments’ zonal qualifiers played in each of the six geo-political zones where a state hosts others in the zone, was rounded up on Wednesday.
Ehizoje, while speaking on the success of the event, said the sixth edition had a record of 36 states for the first time participating in the tournament.
“This tournament continues to expand and yield results and for the first time, we hit 36 states participating in the event with over 1000 kids.
“In 2024, we had 33 states but we saw Yobe, Benue and Adamawa participating in the tournament for the first time.
“This highlights the importance of grassroots cricket in Nigeria and the revelation of the success of the accelerated programme where we employ coaches to go across the country.
“Notably, are the girls that represented Borno. They are offshoot of our IDP program which was carried out about six or seven months ago.
“This shows that even kids who are not in school have an opportunity to be part of the U17 program,’’Ehizoje said.
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The NCF scribe noted that talents from the event would be selected to the national Under 19 male and female teams.
“This tournament is the biggest in Nigeria and West Africa and has gained recognition from the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“The good part is that it continues to harness young talents across the country and gives us an opportunity to identify areas where we need to improve.
“It is also a pathway for talents to be selected for the country’s youth teams,’’ he said.
The finals of the tournament is scheduled for March in Abuja.
