As the maiden Nigeria Premier Football (NPFL) Under 17 Youth League kicks off nationwide with the arrival and screening of the twenty participating teams at different designated centers, Bendel Insurance Feeders are ready to go into the zonal qualification battle with South-South zone hosts Rivers United Under 17, after a seamless screening exercise at the Adokiye Amiesimaka stadium, Port Harcourt.
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The South South Zone Screening Exercise which held under the supervision of the zonal coordinator Nicholas Morrison Kemeghede ended peacefully. The screening exercise was followed by a Technical meeting at the same venue on Wednesday evening.
The young Benin Arsenals who came out of the screening room at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium clean and cleared for the South South zonal elimination tournament are paired against their Rivers United counterparts in their first game on Thursday, February 1st. The match,scheduled to hold at the Adokiye Amasiemaka stadium in Portharcourt is expected to kick off at 10:00 AM.
The opening game in the South South zone,Portharcourt between Bayelsa Utd Under 17 and their Akwa Utd counterparts is scheduled to kick off by 8:00 AM.
The Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye, Davidson Owumi led NPFL just introduced the under 17 NPFL Youth League in the country and the qualifying tournament is holding across five venues in Nigeria to encourage youth soccer development. The centers include Enugu, Port Harcourt, Ekiti, Lafia and Kaduna.
Speaking ahead of the qualifiers games after the screening exercise,the head coach of Bendel Insurance Feeders Stanley Osazee said that his young team is well prepared for the tournament. He commended the NFF and the Gbenga Elegbeleye NPFL for the innovation, noting that it is a good move in the right direction in the nation’s renewed hope for grassroots football development.
The Bendel Insurance Feeders coach fondly called Coach Sheyi was optimistic that the NPFL under 17 youth league, if sustained, will serve as a breeding ground for discovery of raw talents and development which in the long run will help to strengthen the domestic league and as well feed the national teams.
