The Teslim Balogun Stadium will on Friday, June 10, 2016 host the finals of the GTBank-Lagos State Principals Cup; the biggest grassroots soccer competition in West Africa. Now in its 7th year, this season’s finals promises to be an exhilarating encounter between two teams as they stake their claim as ultimate champions of the prestigious tournament.
In the boys’ category, Dairy Farm Senior Secondary School who won the title in 2012 & 2014 will be seeking to permanently retain the trophy as they go in search of their 3rd title. Debutants Ejigbo Senior Secondary School will be playing for glory, having eliminated Keme Balogun Grammar School in a keenly contested semi-finals battle.
In the girls’ category, defending champions; Ikotun Senior High School will be playing for glory as they seek to defend their title against their old nemesis; CMS Senior Girls Grammar School, in what will be a rematch of the 2013 finals wherein the latter lost 4-2 on penalties. Will history continue as we know it or will history be rewritten; is a story that will be told when these titans collide at the Teslim Balogun stadium.
Winners will be rewarded with the sum of N750,000.00, N500,000.00 and N350,000,00 for the 1st ,2nd and 3rd place winners respectively in both male and female categories.
Over the years, the GTBank Lagos State Principals Cup has produced exceptional players at country and club levels. Yetunde Fajobi of Government Senior College, Agege, and Esther Adeboye of State High School, Alimosho (2014 edition players) were part of the Nigerian U-17 national team (The Flamingos) that qualified for the 2016 FIFA U17 World Cup. Amongst some of the notable players discovered in this year’s competition are; leading goal scorer in the Girls category, Edemekop Ndiana from CMS Girls Grammar School, Anusilem Amarachi from Ikotun Senior High School with 6 and 5 goals respectively.
Commenting on the significance of the competition in Nigeria’s educational framework, the MD/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank plc Segun Agbaje, believes “the competition paves the way for youths to cultivate their sporting talents, whilst fostering and building a healthier lifestyle at a critical stage in their lives”. He enjoined the students to imbibe the spirit of fair play, hard work, and discipline, which are some of the core values of GTBank.
Guaranty Trust Bank, a youth oriented brand maintains the lead in providing support for education and sports to enable young boys and girls explore their talents and reach for their dreams. It is one of the few Nigerian financial institutions that have maintained a defined Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy, most especially in sports education. The Bank actively supports in-classroom and out-of-classroom educational programmes, infrastructure development, students’ scholarship and teachers training across Africa.
Alongside the Lagos State Principals Cup, GTBank also sponsors the Ogun State Principals Cup, and the Masters Cup tournament in Lagos.