By Romanus Okoye
All is set for the kickoff of the maiden edition of Nwobodo Nelson Unity Cup billed for December 26 to 31, 2017.
The tournament primed to be an annual event will see eight participating communities, namely Umudora, Umuoba, Nmiata, Oroma-Etiti, Umuikwu, Umuenwelum, Umueze and Iyiora Anam all in Anambra West, battle for the cash prize of N500,000, N250,000 and N100,000 for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners respectively.
Sponsor, Mr. Nwobodo Nelson, said the tournament aimed at discovering fresh talents in the rural communities is also targeted to create jobs and keeping the youths away from crimes.
According to Nwabodo, the rate of crime in the communities is becoming alarming as many of the talented youths lack the opportunity to channel their talents rightly.
He explained that scouts would be on hand to select players who excels in the exercise before choosing the final ones who will be groomed by professional football coaches.
“Football is great business all over the world, both to the players and others that have one thing or the other to do with it. Apart from that the government is doing a lot to curb crime. But individuals need to assist the government by contributing their quota in curbing the menace.
“The unity cup will create opportunity for friendship building among the participants thereby minimizing the
regular face-offs between various rural communities.
“More specifically, sports offer an important opportunity for building life skills of at-risk youth that allow them to better cope with daily life challenges and move away from involvement in violence, crime or drug use.
“We intend to create youth-oriented awareness by raising sports initiatives to further promote civic values and disseminate the benefits of sport in keeping youth from becoming involved in crime and violence.”