By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Anambra School Sports Festival was on Saturday wrapped up with fanfare as spectators and students turned out en masse to witness the final hustle for the first place spot in football and athletics for both male and female categories, respectively.

For the U17 male football match, Washington Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha, defeated and Bubendorf Memorial Grammar School, Adazi-Ani 4-2 through penalty shoot-out after a barren draw at full time of the game.

Earlier, Uncle Ralph de Great had emerged winners of the U13 male football event, after stunning their fellow finalists, Eri Primary School 3-1 in the entertaining game played at the Awka Township Stadium.

The little kids in their show of scintillating display of skill and agility decided the game in the first half when with three goals before the first half.

However, the Aguleri young lads came back more determined in the second half but their consolatory lone goal in the early minutes of second stanza could not yield them the needed turnaround.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Governor Chukwuma Soludo, represented by his Deputy, Dr. Onyekachi Ibezim, said that the event marks a beginning of a new dawn for sports development in Anambra.

He described sports as having immense health, social and intellectual benefits which also include development of talents, adding that his administration would adopt a bottom-up approach to the development of the sector.

It is a new era for sports development in Anambra, it is more than 10 years since we had this type of competition. Sports is a major pillar and Mr Governor has said he will adopt a bottom-up-approach and that is what you are witnessing here.

I can see the joy and excitement in the faces of our children and even our adults. Sports has health benefits, economic benefits and social benefits. The government is also exploring more areas of benefits.

So, as you engage in sports, we encourage you to take your studies seriously. Congratulations to all of you, especially the local government, schools and students that won in special ways, the Governor said.

Earlier in his address, the Chairman, Anambra State Sports Development Commission, Patrick-Estate Onyedum, thanked the state governor for graciously approving and funding the festival after more than 10 years of being inactivity.

Onyedum noted that the school sports festival was an addition to the successes of the Commission within the nine months period he had steered activities in Anambra sports sector.

According to him, the festival which started on May 17 began with about 17,000 students from about 610 Primary and secondary school which progressed through community, Local Government Area and zonal elimination stages.

He hinted that outstanding student athletes from the competition would go on to represent Anambra at the upcoming National Youth Games slated for September this year and National Sports Festival to be hosted by Ogun State next year.

Scouts from local and foreign origin have been able to spot some talents with sporting potentials, these can go on to become great sports personalities in the nearest future.

We will keep an eye on these athletes and monitor their progress because school sports festivals provide a veritable platform for identification and nurturing of potential sportsmen's and women, he said.

Meanwhile, Vision Secondary School, Nnewi, emerged the overall best performing school in the festival after defeating over two hundred Schools that participated in the games to become Champions.

The school dominated other schools in mostly throw and tract events to set a state record.

Nnewi North Local Government Area were also crowned the best local government based on the total number of medals it won.

Three students also went home with three brand new bicycles through raffle draws, courtesy of the Chairman of the Sports commission.

Speaking after the game, Ralph Ogbonna, Proprietor of the school said he was happy that his boys gave a good account of themselves in the competition.