Asaba, Anambra (Nigeria): Team Anambra wrapped up its campaign at the 9th National Youth Games (NYG) in Asaba with a total of 14 medals, including four gold and two silver, showcasing the state’s rising talent in grassroots sports.
The medals include four gold, two silver and eight bronze.
The 2025 NYG ended with an elaborate closing ceremony at the Stephen Keshi stadium on Saturday.
Patrick-Estate Onyedum, Chairman of the Anambra State Sports Development Commission, expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance, despite it falling short of last year’s.
It would be recalled that Anambra finished in eighth place on the overall medals table at the last edition, winning 26 medals, which comprised nine gold, nine silver, and eight bronze.
Onyedum said NYG was a development programme which was mainly for talent discovery and not medal accumulation.
According to him, Anambra is proud of her athletes because they are within the age range and can defend their victories.
Onyedum appreciated Gov. Chukwuma Soludo for developing sports at the grassroots level through the reintroduction of school sports.
He reiterated his disapproval of using overage athletes in age-group competitions. He called on the National Sports Commission and the Sports Federation to adopt stringent measures to address the problem.
“It is pretty unfortunate; this is supposed to be a competition for children 15 years old and below, but I presented a medal to a young man with a moustache. How can a 15-year-old boy grow a beard?
“I expected that as we progress, we would be getting it right, but, sadly, there is either no mechanism to control it or the organisers are not interested.
” People go as far as changing their national identification number.
“Conceiving and implementing this Youth Games is the best thing that has happened to sports development in Nigeria, but age falsification and desperation to win are defeating the purpose,” he said.