LAGOS STATE DARTS ASSOCIATION INTRODUCES GAME TO STUDENTS
… Organises One-Day Event for School Children At Teslim-Balogun Stadium
The Lagos State Darts Association (LSDA) has held a Darts programme for school children as part of efforts to revive the sport and stimulate its growth among the children in line with the mandate of the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC) to encourage mass participation.
Speaking at the event held recently, the Chairman of LSSC, Mr. Sola Aiyepeku, said the programme was designed to teach the students the rudiments of Darts, popularise the game among them and unearth nascent talents to be groomed and nurtured to represent the State at major tournaments in the future, stressing that Darts sport is one of the oldest and is gaining popularity every day among the people.
The Chairman of LSDA, Mr. Adegbenga Odofin, explained that the Association wants to create a new pool of talents, through the programme tagged ‘Brain Booster’, for students at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall of the Teslim-Balogun Stadium, Surulere.
He said the one-day event held by LSDA, saw selected students from public secondary schools across the six Education Districts being introduced to the rudiments of the game, noting that the developmental programme designed to catch them young at the school level will be a regular event to sustain the interest of the students.
While informing that Lagos currently has 14 senior and nine junior players, who represented the State at the National Sports Festival and the National Youth Games, the Chairman averred that apart from being a scoring event with multiple medals at the National Sports Festival, Darts is a lucrative sport at the global level with professional players competing at various international championships across the world.
The Technical Director of the Association, Mr. Joachim Idada, remarked that the Darts training programme held for the students also featured exhibition matches among students for demonstrative purpose, while the participating students were tested on knowledge of the games.
He said the programme was very successful and students, as well as the officials, are already looking forward to a similar exercise in the near future.
Highlights of the event include the donation of Darts equipment to the Association by the Nigerian Women in Sports. The items were presented by the President of the Lagos State Chapter, Tayo Popoola.