Adekunle Salami 
Defending champions of the National Youth Games (NYG), Team Delta, have moved into closed camping ahead of the 9th edition, scheduled to hold from August 26 to September 6 in Asaba.
Over 600 athletes from Team Delta are camped at St. Brigid’s School Hostel, Delta Sports Commission Hostel, and the Hockey Hostel located in Okpanam.
An official of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Festus Ohwojero, disclosed on Monday that athletes and officials who will represent Delta at the Games will be announced later this week.
“We have over 600 athletes in three different camps right now,” Ohwojero said. “Very soon, the number of athletes that will represent Team Delta in the 9th National Youth Games will be made known to the public.”
Meanwhile, Team Bayelsa made an impressive impact at the just-concluded Zonal Eliminations in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Led by Acting Director of Sports, Andrew Aye, Bayelsa’s 250-man contingent competed in 10 different sports. The state’s female basketball team outclassed Rivers 17-9 before thrashing Akwa Ibom 16-2 to finish first, while the male team defeated Akwa Ibom 18-14 and Edo 7-1, but narrowly lost 17-19 to Rivers in added minutes, still securing qualification.
In football, Bayelsa won all three matches in the male category to book a place at the Games, while the female team won two matches to remain in contention.
In Abula, both male and female teams qualified, with the female side finishing first in the zone, while the male team secured second place.
The state’s softball team also claimed first place, beating Rivers after an earlier 5-3 victory over host Akwa Ibom. Bayelsa’s male volleyball team equally qualified with straight-set wins (25-8, 25-18) over Rivers and Akwa Ibom.
Speaking on the team’s performance, Aye said Bayelsa has moved from merely participating to competing at the highest level.
According to him, Bayelsa qualified in abula (male and female), basketball (male and female), volleyball (male), and football (male and female).
