Participants at the just ended Lagos Sports Summer Camp held at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, have hailed the organisers for giving them the opportunity to learn new skills. 120 children between the ages of nine and 16 from the three senatorial districts of Lagos State took part in the programme.
The camp, an initiative of the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), saw the children introduced to choice sports that include Athletics, Table Tennis, Basketball, Taekwondo, Judo, Swimming, Squash and Volleyball, with the aim of turning them into future stars, who will represent Lagos and Nigeria in the future. Vocations introduced to the children included tie and dye, tilling, make up, interlocking and drama.
Speaking on his experience, 14-year-old Ladi-Idowu Moronfoluwa, a student of Babington Macaulay Junior Secondary Seminary, Ikorodu, Lagos, said he was full of appreciation to the state government for the opportunity.
“I am glad to be part of the summer camp and I want to commend the organisers for the skill we learnt. I also want to thank Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu for approving it. “I was able to learn a lot, mostly things I could not ordinarily think of knowing in my life. I was able to mix up with others who were at the camp and I made new friends. I will continue to practice all those things I have learnt now that schools have resumed,” he said.
Also, one Mustapha Mubarak from Oregun Senior High School, Alausa, Ikeja, said, “I used to take part in athletics in the school, especially in 100m, but at the summer camp, I showed interest in the table tennis. Now, I can conveniently play the game on any standard table,” he said.According to the Director General of LSSC, Mr. Oluwatoyin Gafar, many children, who didn’t have the chance to be exposed to other sports, enjoyed the camp as they also interacted with their peers.
“The summer camp was organised in line with the vision of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu that grassroots sports growth is vital to the quest to make Lagos the sports hub of Africa. And I must give kudos to him for supporting us for the success of this programme.
“We came up with the idea of camping the children in order to give them the opportunity to engage themselves in sports and vocational that is unfamiliar with them during the holiday in order to unearth other innate talents God has deposited in them.“I am happy to say that that during the time spent in the camp the children were taking through sports and other vocational trainings. Interestingly, we saw how the children put into practice what they have taught. It is encouraging to us that we are doing the right thing to develop them,” he stated.
