Sports Festival: Fatodu tasks Lagos athletes ahead of Southwest zonal eliminations
The Director-General, Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC0), Lekan Fatodu, has urged athletes to give their best as Team Lagos competes at the South West Zonal Eliminations for the 22nd National Sports Festival – ‘Gateway Games 2024’ billed for May in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Team Lagos athletes will compete against their counterparts from Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti in the team sports when hostilities resume on Tuesday as the state contingents arrive in Ibadan, Oyo State for the four-day event holding at Ilaji Sports & Resort, Akanran and Adamasigba Stadium respectively.
Addressing the athletes before the team departed Lagos, Fatodu admonished them to make the state proud and reflect excellence on and off the pitch.
The DG described Lagos as a shining example of sporting excellence in the country due to the commitment, dedication, and forthrightness in athletes’ management, and providing an enabling environment for talent identification and development.
He added that dedication, commitment, trust, optimism and discipline stand the athletes out as professionals across different sports while noting that Lagos is a special state among many states in Nigeria.
Fatodu said as disciplined sportsmen and women, they need to imbibe the culture of sportsmanship to reach the high pedestal of their career.
He further highlighted that the issue of athlete poaching has become a thing of the past as the state will not rest on its oars in ensuring that athletes get the necessary support, facilities and equipment to continuously improve and achieve success in their chosen careers.
No fewer than 208 Athletes and 15 accompanying technical officials are representing Lagos at the South West Zonal qualifiers for ball games. Football, Basketball, Handball, Volleyball, Cricket, Hockey, Beach Volleyball and Abula are sports teams Lagos will participate in to get qualifying slots in both male and female categories.
