The opening matches of the 2015 Lagos State/GTBank Principals’ Cup kicked off on Monday in the state.
According to the draws of the Principals’ Cup Season 6 which took place last Thursday at the bank’s corporate head office, 24 schools were drawn into eight groups of three teams in the male category while 18 teams were placed into six groups of three teams in the female category. Season 5 champions, Dairy Farms, Agege, were scheduled to slug it out with St. Gregory College, Obalende and Merian Community High School in Group G of the male category.
The female champions, Government Girls College, Agege, will defend their title against Estate Senior Grammar School, Mushin and Ifako Comprehensive Secondary School in Group F.
According to the General Manager, Communication and External Affairs, Lola Odedina, “the Principals’ Cup competition paves the way for youths to cultivate their sporting talents and aptitudes, while fostering and building a healthier lifestyle at a critical stage in their lives”.
She enjoined the students to imbibe the spirit of fair play, hard work, and rigour, which are some of the core values of GTBank.
She also added “We witnessed such a great passion for football amongst the teams of the Season 5 tournament and I am certain that more talent will emerge as the tournament progresses this year”.
She appreciated the principals from the various schools for supporting and encouraging the young talents in achieving their dreams.
Most Valuable Players of the tournament, Sunday Adeoye of Dairy Farm Senior Secondary School Agege and Yetunde Fajobi of Government Girls College, were rewarded with tickets to watch the 2014 Brazil World Cup.
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 in the male and female categories. GTBank will also provide sports infrastructure upgrade and sporting equipment’s such as balls, goal post nets and corner flags for schools throughout the duration of the competition.
The bank also organises an annual residential coaching programme called ‘Camp GTBank’; a football talent development vehicle to identify, train and develop outstanding players during the football season.