Over the years, sport enhances social and cultural life by bringing together individuals and communities. Sports can help to overcome difference and encourages dialogue, and thereby helps to break down prejudice, stereotypes, cultural differences, ignorance, intolerance and discrimination.
Communities that participate in sports and recreation programs develop strong social bonds, are safer places and the people who live in them are generally healthier and happier than places where physical activity isn’t a priority. Sport and recreation builds stronger, healthier, happier and safer communities.
All those facts are the reasons that has made Dr. Adelaja Adenuga Adeleke to deem it fit to bring together youths of Ijebu Igbo, Awa, Ilaporun, Itamerin, Ago Iwoye, Imope, Iganran, Odoalamo, Aparaki and other neighbouring towns and communities together to converge at Oru, Ijebu on Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th December 2021 to compete for the Adelaja Adeleke Adenuga Table Tennis Championship.
Dr. Adelaja Adenuga Adeleke, the financier and the brain behind the grassroots community sports championship event has emphasized that watching and playing sports provide ways to escape the stress of our daily lives and coming together as a community at the end of the year, is in a right direction to promote community peace, mutual understanding cultural indifferences. ‘’Hosting sporting events can boost tourism and revenue for a town or bigger community. Both amateur and professional, have tremendous economic, political and cultural influences on our society. Sporting events have played pivotal roles in communities around the world throughout history. Today, contests pushing physical limits are more popular than ever before. As interest in health and longevity continues to rise, and governments and businesses continue to see sporting events as sound investments, sports will play a vital role in society for the foreseeable future’’ he pointed out.
‘’Physical activities like sports, whether for recreational, professional or educational purposes, are not merely about fitness or victory; above all, they are an essential building block of a prosperous and healthy society. Much like a country’s educational system, media or political and social movements, sporting events bring disparate people together by strengthening ties and celebrating the common ideals of fairness, sacrifice and hope. Sports in society remind us that following prescribed rules does not have to be boring and that we must always carve out a place for fun in our lives’’ he concluded.
At the Oru Court Hall, Oru Ijebu where the championship stakeholders met on Saturday 4th December, 2021, championship event dates were selected and fixed for Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th December 2021. Elimination matches will hold on the first day while the final matches on the second day. The committee members are: Prof. Amusa N. Adetunji, Olusesan Olukoya, Phamacist Kayode Ayodele, Yetunde Odumosu, Adefemi Ilori, Adebayo Adesanya, Olufunmilayo Bakare and Abayomi Ilori.
