By Solomon Nwoke
IN a bid to take the youths away from the streets and give them something meaningful to do, Innjoo, the fastest growing smartphone company in Nigeria has boosted the 3rd Sam Ocheho Invitational Handball championship for male and female senior teams with the sum of N10 million.

The bi-annual handball event which started in June 2012 has developed from being a regional event to an International Championship.

HANDS OF FELLOWSHIP… Sam Ocheho ( L) receiving trophy from Rakesh Rocque, InnJoo Country Manager for Nigeria.

This year’s edition takes off  from 10th to 19th of June 2016 at the Rowe Park Handball Courts Yaba, Lagos with 24 teams from within the country and the West African sub regions taking part.

At the media briefing yesterday in Lagos, Rakesh Rocque, InnJoo’s Country Manager for Nigeria said, as a society unit, they are ready and willing to take social responsibility.

“InnJoo is honoured to be the sole sponsor of this youths’ festival. We share the same spirit of the young generation with passion, living with dream and believing in ourselves.

“We are aiming to provide Nigerian people with not only the innovative technology but also positive attitudes towards life. The Championship started as a way of taking youths away from the streets and giving them something meaningful to do, which is consistent with our brand concept”, said Rocque.

Reacting to the gesture, the initiator of the championship, Sam Ocheho thanked the sponsors and assured them of judicious use of funds. He enthused that another unique feature of this year’s championship is that it’s going international for the first time.

He said, “I must say a big thank you and I want to assure them that they’ll not regret this journey as full accountability of funds would be rendered to my sponsors. The main aim of the championship is to develop the potentials in the youth by keeping them away from the streets and channelling their their energy to sports, this way they are engaged thereby reducing their tendency to indulge in social vices. I see it as a way of giving back to the society as I also benefited from participating in the game of handball”.

Winners in the male and female categories will get N500,000 each while the runners-up in both categories will get N300,000 each and the third place winners get N200,000. In addition, all winners will also go home with InnJoo smartphones and accessories.

The sponsors also provided free accommodation to all participating teams in addition to N75,000 subsidy for running expenses.

Meanwhile, the following teams have confirmed their participation in the championship. These are the Civil Defence, Niger United, Kano Pyramids, Lagos United, Team Delta State, Vipers, Rima of Sokoto, Aspac of Benin Republic team, Black Hands of Ghana team, Southwest team, Peacocks of Plateau, Imo Grasshoppers, Abia Valiant, Edo Queens, Phoenix of Gabon and the Queens of Cote D‘Ivoire. Organisers said they expect that more will confirm their participation before the competition begins.