Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Africa’s foremost financial institution, has announced the semi-final fixtures of the prestigious GTBank – Lagos State Principals Cup competition. The event is scheduled to hold on Tuesday, May 20, 2014 at Agege Stadium, Lagos.
The tournament which is in its 5th edition is an annual football competition geared towards the development of grassroots football, the discovery of young football talents and fostering camaraderie amongst secondary school students. It is aimed at actively engaging secondary school students through sports whilst promoting the values of excellence and fair play. It also provides a platform for identifying, nurturing and grooming young and talented players amongst the students.
The semi-final matches promise the participating schools, their alumni and football loving spectators an enthralling atmosphere. It will feature CMS Girls High School taking on Ikotun Senior High School and Oriwu Senior Model College locking horns with Government Senior College in the female category. The male category will feature Oriwu Senior Model School slugging it out with Methodist Senior School while AUD Senior Grammar School will face Dairy Farm School, Agege.
At the end of the tournament, cash prizes of N1,000,000, N750,000, N500,000 and N250,000 will be presented to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place winners respectively in the male and female categories. GTBank will also provide sporting equipment such as balls, goal post nets and corner flags throughout the duration of the competition.
According to GTBank’s Head of Communication and External Affairs, Lola Odedina, “the Principals’ Cup competition goes beyond football; it is a veritable platform to mentor youths and encourage them to pursue their dreams with the spirit of discipline and fair play. The interaction on the field of play helps them gain confidence in and outside of the classroom and also imbibe the spirit of fair play”.
Lola Odedina also added that the competition will provide youngsters a platform to become Africa’s ambassadors to the International community which is in line with GTBank’s vision of creating role models for society.
Guaranty Trust Bank plc is one of the few Nigerian financial institutions that has maintained a defined Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy since its inception in 1990. The Bank actively supports numerous programmes in Education, the Art, Community Development and environmental sustainability across Africa. Its most recent projects in this regard include the sponsorship of the Principals Cup, a grassroots football development initiative amongst public secondary school students in Ogun State, Rivers State and in Lagos State.
