Lagos State Sports Commission executive chairman, Kweku Tandor has disclosed that the state will present a total of 442 athletes, male and female athletes for the 19th National Sports Festival in Abuja.
Tandoh revealed further that 81 coaches and 50 other officials will also be presented by The Centre of Excellence, including welfare and medical staff, for the festival next month, sports247.ng gathered.
He added that the contingent will have athletes that have been training and taking part in the state organised competitions over the years.
Tandoh noted that it would be profitable on the long run to use home-grown talents, rather than spend money and energy looking for foreign-based professionals or poaching from other states.
“One of the things that we have refused to do in Lagos is to go all over the world and start looking for athletes to represent us.
“For us, we see the festival not just as a competition, but we see it as a developmental tool.
“For us, it is a measure of the work that we have been doing over the years in developing our athletes,” Tandoh concluded.
