By Solomon Nwoke
TWENTY Four primary schools  in Lagos square up in this year’s Channels Kids Cup Football  (Under 13) tournament which begins next Monday at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium, Surulere.

Straitgate School Magodo takes on their counterparts from Command School Yaba in the opening match which kicks off at Nine O,clock in the morning while Surulere LGA tackles their mates from Lagos Island in the second game.

Speaking at a media briefing yesterday at the Corporate Headquarters of Channels Television, Isheri Lagos, the General Manager, Special Duties, Steve Judo who stood in for Head of Organisation 2012 Channels Kids Cup, Tayo Balogun said the tournament was designed specifically for public and private schools in Lagos state and its environ  aimed at discoverying young talents from the basics.

Balogun said  also that the tournamnt was part of the corporate social responsibility of Channels Television in helping to develop sports in the state and the country  from the grassroots.

He noted that the tournament has taken a giant leap since its inception in 2009 as lots of talents have been discovered.

“Over 30 schools  from different parts of the state applied for the tournament while 24 were given the pass mark to participate in the competition. The local organizing committee conducted a thorough screening of each participating school to checkmate age cheating and ensuring that every team is given a level playing ground.

“The preliminaries which is based on direct elimination will begin on Monday May 21st at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium, Surulere while the champions will be known on Sunday May 27th which is Children’s Day celebration at the Agege Stadium”, he said.

At the draws ceremony yesterday, Eight schools were seeded based on their past performance while the teams were grouped into ABCD as Eight matches will be played each day for the first three days of the tournament commencement.