Team Akwa Ibom has qualified for all six male category team sports it entered for at the just-concluded zonal elimination of the 7th National Youth Games – NYG, which are scheduled for Asaba, Delta state, from September 7 to 17, this year. The regional elimination, which took place at the ancient city of Calabar, the Cross River state capital, from Friday, August 12 to Monday, August 14, drew participation from all six states of the South-South region of the country. The team towered above its opponents to secure qualification in Volleyball, Beach Volleyball, Basketball, Football, Cricket and Baseball. It, however, did not enter for Rugby and Hockey. Speaking, Monday, shortly after the Calabar outing, the Director of Sports, Akwa Ibom state Ministry of Youth Development and Sports, Elder Ifiok Duff, thanked Akwa Ibom state Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, for supporting them to participate in the competition despite the prevalent economic hardship that the country is currently grappling with and attributed the the team’s success to the effective supervision of the Honourable Commissioner for Youth Development and Sports, Sir Monday Uko, as well as the hard work and commitment of his athletes, coaches and staff. “I thank His Excellency, the Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Pastor Umo Eno, for approving our participation in the Games, especially because some states in this region could not enter for more than four team sports while some in other regions completely withdrew from the competition due to the present-day harsh economic realities that the country is experiencing”, he stated. “Our athletes, coaches and members of staff have been very hardworking in the past few weeks and I’m happy that their hard work, coupled with the effective supervision of our boss, the Honourable Commissioner, has resulted in today’s success”, he further stated. The National Youth Games are a multi-sport event organized by the Federal Government for athletes who are under the age of 15 from the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory with Team Delta, which won the 2021 edition in Ilorin, the defending champion.