By Esther Egbe
The first edition of the Abuja Female Barracks Youth Championship 2018 commenced at the Sport Complex Mogadishu Cantonment Abuja.
The Female Youth Championship which is being organized by the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) from 2 – 5 October 2018 is an initiative of the Chief Defence Staff (CDS), General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin.
The aim is to encourage female youths in the Barracks to participate in sporting activities with a view to promote their mental and physical wellbeing,National Daily learnt .
The participants drawn from: Mogadishu Cantonment, Mambilla Barracks, Lungi Barracks and Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Base are competing for laurels in the game of Basketball, Volleyball and Badminton.
The CDS, who was the Special Guest of Honour, said that the youth Championship was in line with his vision to promote grassroots sport in the Barracks where new athletes could be discovered to represent the country in future national and international tournaments.
The CDS who was represented by the Director of Plans at the DHQ, Rear Admiral Dogara Albehu, encouraged the athletes to compete fairly, bearing in mind the spirit of sportsmanship while urging the referees to display unbiased officiating throughout the Championship.
In his comments, the Director of Sports, DHQ, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Dayo Adelouye while thanking the CDS for initiating the games, said the championship was to promote gender equality among the Barracks Youths. AVM Adelouye recalled that the Male Championship was held during the third quarter of this year. He further expressed confidence that the sporting events will be sustained, as more games will be introduced in the subsequent edition.