Pauline Oyibe 
Josephine Diette Spiff has said the reason for organizing the female soccer cup championship in Byales State was to bring together young and promising girls so that their potential and talents can be identified.
Speaking at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex in Yenagoa, during the grand finale of the completion, Diette Spiff said by tapping into their potential at a young age, her foundation can support the continuity of female soccer in the state and across the country.
She said that the game has fostered one, solidity, unity in diversity and inclusion among participating schools adding that it has helped the young students to discover and nurture their football talents.
She said the weeklong competition which comprised all the girl’s schools in the state has instilled a completive spirit, encouraged alertness and helped the girls to shield themselves from anti-social behaviours.
Diette Spiff said: “This initiative has broken down barriers of discrimination and harassment, helping the girls to embrace cultural diversity adding that their display on the pitch has shown the world that the girls can be recognised if given the opportunity to showcase their worth.
Maintaining that she expects next year’s outing to be better, she regretted that the girls were not given enough time to prepare for the competition stating that “most of them don’t even have clubs.”
She continued: ”Bayelsa queens are getting old and we are trying to get these ones to take over, so we are catching them young.”
“I put up this completion just to get the girl child to keep their minds alert and shun bad practices and to be focused into something more productive and more interesting.”
“So we are so happy that we are really tapping those from the rural areas. So we are trying to get them out of that life of evil behaviour, and immorality and bring them to a life of completion where they will be alert and healthy and where they can make defined decisions for themselves.
“We hope to make this a yearly tournament and we are hoping that more will come. Despite the economic hardship, the pregame must go on and if we don’t do this, we will leave the girl child to be dormant and you know an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”
“All the relevant stakeholders should come out alike to help these girl children so that future generations would be more productive than they are now. I thank all that came out to support this programme and I hope they will be there next time as we move forward.”
Also Speaking, Colony Christian Kokoriko, president of Character Moulding Foundation also a supporter of the competition commended every single participant of the tournament adding that they had demonstrated courage, resilience and passion.
She said” This tournament is a testament to what we can achieve when we invest in our girl child. It is a reminder that sports can be a powerful tool for education, empowerment and social change.”
“To every girl who played in this tournament, know that you are powerful, capable and you have a bright future ahead. Let this tournament be a stepping stone to a greater achievement in your life.”
Speaking earlier, Tonye Isenah had disclosed that he saw future Bayelsa queens and future Nigerian team players adding that “we catching them young.”
“Some of us are going to get involved so that we will catch these girls young so that educationally and sports-wise, we will push them to the limelight.”
“For whatever reason our boys have gone into Yahoo but we need to take these ones off them. We are going into serious moral decadence so education is not about boys again. So, while doing this, don’t forget to read your books study hard and the sky is going to be your springboard.”
The high point of the event was the handing over of the Tournament to Ogbo Memorial Grammar School Southern Ijaw who defeated St Jude’s Girls Secondary School, Amarata with one goal to nill.
