Youth Games : Review of age limit will improve athletes’ sustainability, says Bayelsa State Sports Director

Following the statement of Sports Minister John Owan Enoh to revisit the age limit of the National Youth Games, the Director of Sports Bayelsa State Sports Council Sir. Braveman Wodi has expressed his opinion on the matter of U-17 age bracket.

Speaking to Journalists on Monday at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, he said the review of the age limit of the National Youth Games should be carried out with the integration of necessary stakeholders who will make meaningful contributions.

Braveman noted that due to age cheat, it is imperative to have Youth Games that will meet the objectives of grassroots development for young athletes.

He added that the nation should focus on hosting a tournament that graduates athletes from the junior cadet to the senior level while providing avenue for young ones to compete fairly.

“For me the age-cheat is always there and it is quite easy to cheat at the U-17 level because there is a missing gap between the seamless graduation from the U-17 to the senior team. That’s the argument of the Minister.”

“But my submission is for us to have U-15 and U-17 tournament, in order words we should have a National Youth Games that captures categories of U-15 and U-17 ,so that it can fill in the missing link.” Braveman insisted.

According to him, for Nigeria to totally eradicate age cheat at the grassroots, stakeholders need to have deliberate and committed round table discussions to chart efficient methods of screening and detection.

“Stakeholders need to come to the table and discuss some of these issues of age cheat and think of measures or modalities of screening which will be somehow fruitful.
“I think that’s something that is incumbent on all stakeholders, including Directors of Sports and the Federal Ministry of Sports.” Braveman said.