Cricket: NCF president set to recruit 250,000 youths

Uyi Akpata, newly-elected president of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), on Sunday, set a target of recruiting 250,000 youths across the country as one of the core pursuits of his team.

The NCF boss said his team would build on the existing structure of the former board in which he served as vice president, where 16 regional development officers were recruited to lead training and development in Nigeria.

“We have 16 field officers that we recruited during the last board. So we would get 20 others at this time to enable other states and the Federal Capital Territory to have those development officers as well,” he said.

“With that structure, each state and zones have targets in terms of number of players they should reach each year to form the bedrock of the 250,000 yearly recruitment we are aiming at.”

According to Akpata, the NCF will invest in high impact centers in each state where it would encourage the schools to converge and have their students take a deeper dive and exposure to cricket.

To demonstrate urgency of the task ahead, the new board dispatched four training kits to Kebbi, Kwara, Plateau and Gombe states on Friday through the secretariat in Abuja.

“This structure would form the basis for the different age-grade championships starting from the U-15 and U-17, which eventually will produce players for the national U-19 teams,” Akpata added.

“We would encourage the zones to have secondary school tournaments.”

On the plan for the next four years, the NCF president said: “We would set up a system that will translate to a more predictable outcome for all the national teams. With the ongoing upgrade of playing surfaces to grass wickets, the players can be better prepared for international events from home.

“We would also meet with all stakeholders to present their plans, listen to their recommendations and canvass their partnership to steer the federation an enviable position.”

The NCF was recognised twice for its development efforts by the sport’s ruling body International Cricket Council and the continental body, ICC-Africa, in recent years.