Mees Palace of Jos wins Seyi Akinwumi U-13 football competition

Mees Palace Football Academy Jos at the weekend won the Seyi Akinwumi Charity Foundation North East U-13 competition, which featured eight teams from the zone.

The competition ended at the Pantami Township Stadium, Gombe yesterday, saw Mees Palace winning the trophy by beating the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp of Biu, Borno State 2-0.

The third place prize went to Hassan Central Primary School, Gombe State, which defeated a team from Bauchi by a lone goal.

Speaking at the event, sponsor of the competition, Mr. Seyi Akinwunmi said it was organized to encourage the young talents to combine school with sport, particularly football.

“We aim to teach the young ones how to harness their talents, and be successful in sports, particularly football,” he said.

He said the foundation had been giving scholarship, as well as educational materials to children.

He commended the Gombe Football Association for successfully hosting the competition and also praised all the teams that participated in the competition.

In his speech, Gombe State Deputy Governor, Mr. Manessah Jatau commended Akinwunmi for bringing the young talents together.

He said the Gombe State Government under the leadership of Governor Inuwa Yahaya was out to develop the state, adding that development encompassed everything, sports inclusive.

The best players in each of the eight teams received a scholarship of N150, 000, while all the players were given school bags with educational materials.

Six out of the eight teams that participated in the tournament represented the six states in the zone, while the remaining two, Mees Palace Academy of Jos and IDPs Camp Biu were there on special invitation.