By Femi Atolagbe
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Over 23 states will compete for honour in the National Open Championship Ayo slated for Lagos between April 23 to 30.
The national coordinator of Traditional sport (Ayo’s Sport) Mr Joshua Ogunbiyi in a chat with Sporting Hope at the State Sports complex, Akure disclosed that the competition was put together to further strengthen and develop the game .
Ayo known as the “Game of the Intellectual”, this game requires a lot of mathematical skill. Ayo is played in carved wooden box, containing twelve holes (with six holes on each side), and 48 Ayo seeds (four seeds in each hole).
Ogunbiyi who is also the head coach of Ondo State Traditional sports added that the competition will also be used to discover budding talents that will represent the country at the ECOWAS Championship later this year.
He said Ondo State is fully prepared for the championship, saying they have been training morning and evening to ensure we come out as one of the best participating states in the competition.
“We are going to emerge as one the best three states on the medals table at the end the championship”
He expressed optimism that Ondo State will perform very well in the championship, saying the state has been taking the lead in traditional games since “Ayo”was introduced into National Sports Festival years ago.
According to him, “we have been performing in traditional sports in Nigeria, especially Ayo and Abula, I can assure you that we are not going to perform below expectations in the Lagos championship.”
The national coordinator of Traditional sports, also said politics and unnecessary acrimony were responsible for the initial exclusion of traditional sports from the last National Sports Festival held in Delta State last year.
He commended the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development for having a listening ear by returning “Ayo and Kokowa” back into the festival, adding they are still working assiduously to ensure that the remaining sports are incorporated back into the next festival.
