On Thursday, the Bayelsa State Table Tennis Association organized a reception to honor the state table tennis stars who made the state proud in the 2nd Para Festival in the nation’s capital, Abuja.
The reception was organized by the chairman of the Bayelsa State Table Tennis Association, Mr. Ama-Ebi Ebikpolade, who doubles as South-South Zonal Representative on the board of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation.
The event had the presence of the acting secretary of the Bayelsa State Sports Council, Mr. Okoro Egbe, Head of Department Coaching, Mrs. Catherine Sasuode, staff of the sports council, and members of the Association.
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In a remark, the chairman of the Bayelsa State Table Tennis Association, Mr. Ama-Ebi Ebikpolade, said he was pleased with the performance of the Para Table Tennis team, stating that the performance of the para table tennis outing was indicative of the huge investment put in by the Association.
Mr. Ebikpolade noted that his aim as chairman was building human capital development for the coaches and athletes in order to have a better life after sports by sponsoring athletes and coaches to schools within and outside the country.
He asserted that the days when Table Tennis was often referred to as Lagos State sports were over as Bayelsa had come to stop the western monopoly, describing the performance of the para table tennis team as laudable.
The NTTF South South Representative announced a reward of Two Hundred Thousand Naira (#200,000.00) to each of the para-athletes while a cheque of Five Hundred and fifteen Thousand Naira #515,000.00 was given to two coaches to cover their admission expenses for the coaching courses.
He explained that the Association will be sponsoring two coaches, Mr. Adebayo Oladimeji, to the National Institute of Sports NIS in Lagos and Abadi Azibalua for advanced sports coaching and Professional coaching courses in Ghana, noting that his dream is to see Bayelsa athletes compete favorably with their peers outside the country.
Mr. Ebikpolade further explained that as a Chairman of Bayelsa State Table Tennis in the last few years, he has enrolled athletes to Benson Idahosa University Benin City, Edo State, which includes Samuel Boboye, the captain of the State table tennis team, Mathew John, Isaac Boboye and Nicodemus Debekeme.
In separate Goodwill messages from the Acting Secretary of Bayelsa State Sports Council, Mr. Okoro Linus Egbe, and the Head of Department Coaching, Mrs. Catherine Sasuode, both lauded the chairman of Bayelsa State Table Tennis Association for investing in sports as well as giving priority to the welfare of athletes.
They noted that with the support rendered to table tennis in Bayelsa, the state hopes to dominate the sport soon.
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