Governor Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa State

Esther Dominic, Technical Adviser, Adamawa Sports Council, said on Saturday that the state sponsored a 120-man contingent to the North-East Zonal U-17 Sports Festival in Bauchi.

Dominic, who made the disclosure in Bauchi as the Games got underway at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, said the contingent comprised of athletes, coaches and other officials.

Dominic described the tournament as a veritable tool for selecting talents that would represent either the state or the country at various sports meet in the future.

She also disclosed that some members of the contingent were selected from the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the state.

“We have sports facilities in all IDPs camps and other centers in the state and with the return of peace, some IDPs camps became our catchment centers.

“We went out there and identified talents and brought them and placed them in either open or closed camps and today we are here in Bauchi,’’ she said.

She commended Gov. Muhammadu Bindou of Bauchi for his financial support in spite of the lean finances of the state.

Some of the athletes who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) commended the state government for making sports a priority in spite of the scarce resources.

The athletes promised that they would be disciplined and represent Adamawa well and called for prayers from individuals to enable them to excel.

NAN reports that Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi, Taraba and Yobe states are participating in the two-day Games, while Borno did not feature due to lack of finance according to officials.

Adamawa will feature in basketball, handball, hockey and volleyball, while Yobe will feature in handball and hockey.

(NAN)