BAF Engages Youths Through Competitive Sport
The 2018 BAF football competition kicked off with aplomb on the 19th of October 2018. Having discovered that all those who have attempted to stage a competition of this magnitude in Ekiti East in time past have failed to see it through to the final stage as a result of violence, Dr. Bayo Arowolaju (Jnr) dimmed it fit to organizing the competition as a unifying factor among the youths in the various communities in Ekiti East. Eight different communities in Ekiti East participated in the football competition namely: Omuo, Ilasa, Kota, Isinbode, Eda Ile, Araromi Ugbeshi, Omuooke, and Ikun/Araromi. The eight teams were divided into two groups of four in a group at the preliminary stage. During the opening match of the competition which was between Kota and Araromi Ugbeshi, Mr. Tunde Daramola who is the Director of youth advancement and advocacy for BAF represents the CEO. In his speech, he urged all the teams to inculcate the spirit of fair play in them and to also see the competition as an avenue to launch themselves to stardom. He also pointed it out to the teams that quality performance will be rewarded at the end of the competition. The chairman of the football committee Mr. Oyewole Olusanya enjoined the players to follow the rules and regulations of the competition and that any team that breach the rule will be penalized. The match kicked off and at the end of the regulation time, Kota Ekiti defeated Araromi Ugbeshi by three goals to one with a player named Durojaye Yomi from Kota scoring the first hat trick of the competition. More also, other results of the group stage matches are: Omuooke 3 Vs Eda Ile 0, Isinbode 3 Vs Ikun/Araromi 1, Omuo 2 Vs Ilasa 0, Kota 0 Vs Isinbode 2, Omuo 0 Vs Omuooke 0, Ikun/Araromi 1 Vs Araromi Ugbeshi 1, Ilasa 0 Vs Eda-Ile 2, Ikun/Araromi 0 Vs Kota 0, Omuooke 3 Vs Ilasa 0, Isinbode 0 Vs Araromi Ugbeshi 0, Omuo 5 Vs Eda-Ile 0. At the end of the group stage Omuo, Isinbode, Kota and Omuooke qualified for the semifinals. In the semifinal draws, Omuo was pitched against Isinbode while Omuooke was drawn against Kota. In the semifinal match, Omuo defeated Isinbode by One goal to nil courtesy of Adebayo Johnson goal while in the second match Omuooke defeated Kota by four goals to three after drawing nil in regulation time. With the semifinal concluded, Omuo and Omuooke was poised for the final match while Isinbode and Kota are to square up against each other in the third place match. Isinbode later defeated Kota by one goal to nil in the third place match.
On the 30th of December 2018, the stage was set for the final of BAF 2018 football competition between Omuo and Omuooke. The football pitch of Omuo Polytechnic which was the venue of the competition was full to the brim with the supporters of both teams cheering their teams to success. The CEO of BAF Dr. Bayo Arowolaju (Jnr) who stormed the venue unannounced added more gloss to the occasion. In his address to the teams, Dr. Arowolaju admonish them to see the competition as a unifying factor among the youths across the various communities in Ekiti East. The ceremonial kick off was taken by the CEO of BAF after which the final match kicked off. The two teams displayed various skills in other to outwit each other and at the end of ninety minutes the match ended in a stalemate. In the course of penalty shootout, Omuooke defeated Omuo by 4 goals to 3 thereby becoming the winner of the inaugural BAF football competition.
