The much-anticipated Jay9 League is set to kick off, promising to serve as a transformative platform for grassroots football and youth development.
At a press conference held at the Okokoro Local Council Development Area ahead of the league’s commencement, stakeholders emphasized the critical role of sports in keeping children off the streets and providing them with structured opportunities for growth.
The chairman of the Ojokoro Local Council Development Area (Ojokoro LCDA) was in attendance and reiterated his administration’s unwavering support for the upcoming league. He emphasized the importance of investing in sports as a tool for youth engagement, talent discovery, social development and a mode of keeping the youths off the streets, away from vices and other immoral acts.
He said, “First of all to the coaches and trainers of these players, I want to appreciate them and at the same time I commend them for all the effort that they have been doing before, I charge every one of them that they need to work with the local government for us to be able to harness what we have in the area of our youth that we need to get them out of the street with the effort of both the local government and all the participants that are here today.
And to the players and athletes, just like I have always been telling them, we know that when you have an opportunity they should maximize it, use it well and not only that, they should know that that is what we call payback to the society. So, they need to do that so that at the end of the day they too can sow seed to those that are coming behind”
Beyond football, representatives from other sports, including basketball and volleyball, also participated in the conference. They expressed their appreciation for the chairman’s past contributions to sports in the community but highlighted the pressing need for quality sports facilities to further develop young athletes. They stressed that while passion and talent abound, the lack of proper infrastructure remains a major challenge to nurturing future stars.
Speaking at the event, The CEO of Jay9 League, Chuks Odinachi appreciated the chairman’s effort to the development of grassroots sports in the community, he further stated that the Jay9 League known for its excellence in grassroots football is now looking to diversify into other sports.
“Jay9 was established in 2012, and since then we have been building till now, yes we started and based with football, but we have done other things asides football, like basketball competition in schools and all, but as you can see today, we have representatives from the community Basketball Association and the Lagos state Volleyball League, we are looking forward to engaging in more sports as we move forward, and we’re also using this opportunity to reach out to individuals, sponsors, corporate bodies, international bodies that would like to reach out to the grassroots.” He said.
