Director of Sports, Bayelsa State Sports Council, Sir Braveman Wodi has given assurance that the state athletes to the zonal eliminations in Benin, the Edo State capital, ahead of the National Sports Festival (NSF), are fully prepared and will give the state a good representation.
Braveman gave the assurance shortly after a technical committee meeting in Benin, where the state athletes are rearing to go.
The Director of Sports, who doubles as the Chairman, Directors of Sports, South-South, equally said the priority of Team Bayelsa is to hoist the flag of the state very high by clinching the available ticket in the various sports it is participating in.
According to Wodi, "We are fully prepared for the zonal eliminations. We have put in our best in our preparations as usual and we believe that at the end of the day, we shall hoist the flag of the state very high. We are very confident we will do our best. We have prepared our team adequately and I believe we should be able to give a good representation of ourselves and of our state".
The veteran sports administrator, who described the South-South zone as the "power house of sports in Nigeria", said the essence of the technical committee meeting was to "ensure that all issues relating to venue, transportation as well as rules and regulations of the game are tackled in order to avoid protests during games".
Bayelsa State stormed Benin with a 218-man strong contingent for the zonal eliminations. The contingent, which arrived Benin on Sunday, February 23, 2025, will compete in seven team sports including football in both the male and female categories, hockey also male and female and volleyball male.
Other events the state will vie for honours to snatch the zone's available ticket in each team sport, include basketball in the female category as well as handball male. Niger Delta Connect gathered that Team Bayelsa will also show their strength in abula and beach volleyball.
Meantime, action commenced this morning in different sports. Bayelsa State volleyball male team took on Delta State at the Emotan College, Wire Road, Benin, at 8.00 a.m.
The abula team kick-started their campaign at 8.00 a.m. at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, the same venue with handball while the state's hockey male team battled Delta at 9.30 a.m. Bayelsa hockey female team faced Edo State at 12.00 p.m. at St. Maria Goretti College.
In the football event, the host male team and Bayelsa have been paired to face each other at the Crescent Club field on Tuesday, kick-off time is 8.00 a.m. while Delta and Akwa Ibom are scheduled to lock horns at 10.00 a.m.
In the football female category Delta will be up against host, Edo State at 12.00 noon while Bayelsa are drawn bye. Beach Volleyball games will start by 9.00 a.m. at Ihogbe by ICC Road, Benin.
Both male and female teams will compete in a round-robin format, with the top teams advancing to the knockout stage, followed by the semi-finals and finals.
The winners and runners-up in each sport will earn a spot to represent the South-South zone at the NSF coming up in Ogun State between May 16 and 30, 2025.
