Athletes and officials of Team Anambra are set to embark on a week long camping programme in preparation for the upcoming 7th edition of the National Youth Games (NYG) scheduled to hold next month at Asaba, capital of Delta State.
The state contingent will camp for a period of seven days from September 1st to 7th 2023 at the Archbishop Obiefuna Retreat Centre Okpuno, Awka South LGA.
Team Anambra is expected to feature in 18 events at the upcoming NYG comprising of Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Chess, Cricket, Gymnastics, Judo, Karate, Wushu Kung-Fu, Rugby, Scarbble, Taekwondo, Table Tennis, Tennis, Volleyball, Wrestling, Weightlifting and Swimming.
Patrick-Estate Onyedum, Chairman of the Anambra State Sports Development Commission (ASSDC) said the essence of the camping is to enable coaches and technical officials of the commission to finalize preparations for the athletes in anticipation of the national sports programme expected to commence in about a fortnight time.
"We want our athletes to be well prepared for the upcoming games, that's why we have concluded plans for a close camping to ensure the coaches and technical officials of the commission conclude their training schedules with the athletes.
"Our intention is to eclipse the record we had from the last youth games held at Ilorin as we want to motivate our athletes to prepare well, focus on the task ahead and make the state proud at the upcoming games," Onyedum said.
The Anambra Sports boss confirmed that the commission has ensured that only athletes who are 15 years and below will feature at the upcoming games in order to curb the menace of age cheat and ensure the state is fully represented in all the events it registered for at the games.
Onyedum revealed that over 160 athletes and 45 officials will be in Asaba for the 7th National Youth Games.
Anambra State won a total of 14 medals; 2 Gold, 9 Silver and 3 Bronze at the previous edition held at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.