2018 NYG: FCT will Spring Surprises.... Dilichukwu

By Niyi Busari As competitions in the National Youth Games in Ilorin begin on Monday, the Director of Sports, Federal Capital Territory, Chief Mrs. Dilichukwu Onyendinma on Monday assured Abuja citizens and residents that the nations capital's athletes for the event would excel. Dilichukwu gave the assurance in an interview with the www.bsnsports.com.ng in Abuja while speaking on the expectations from its young 95 athletes. BSN Sports reports that the Games was opened on Saturday Sept. 8, while the competitions proper began on Monday. The 4th National Youth Games, a 10-day festival will feature 32 states and the Federal Capital Territory. According to the Director Grassroots Sports Development, Dr Demola Are, 32 states will be taking part in 33 sports during the 10-day event. The Director of Sports, Dilichukwu said that the state would provide strong presence in all 20 sports it would compete in. The 95 strong contingent were chosen from about over 156 athletes that were initially in camp who will compete in 25 sports. “We are in Ilorin with 95 strong athletes for the National Youth Games and we will be competing in 21 games. We expect great performances from all our athletes. “They are well motivated and well trained during camping; we will like to win the Games but not at all cost, the athletes that we are presenting are from our closed camping. “We can say with all confidence that they are within the age limit and no mercenaries is among them. We are the pace setter when it comes to grassroots sports development. “Our players are those that we have confidence in; we can track them because we have their records in our database,’’ she said. Dilichukwu said that Team FCT would participate in sports in which it had strength, adding that the young sportsmen were adequately motivated. “We are participating in 21 sports namely: Team sports, Cricket, Beach volleyball, (male and female), “For individual sports, we will be participating in: Athletics, Weightlifting, Cycling, Chess, Gymnastics, Scrabble. “For combative sports: Boxing, Karate, Judo, Taekwondo, Wrestling and Wushu Kung Fu. For racket sports: Badminton, Squash, Tennis and Table Tennis. “In Para sports we have, Para Powerlifting. Traditional Sports — Ayo. “Lagos is known for grassroots development and we are ready to go and showcase our real talents," she said.