By Dipo Olowookere
Season 6 of the 2017 GTBank Masters Cup has entered the last eight and 16 teams in both the male and female categories will clash at the Onikan Stadium in Lagos from Thursday, May 11, 2017 (today) and tomorrow, Friday, May 12, 2017, to book a spot in the last four of the competition.
The girls will kick off the quarter finals on Thursday with Greensprings School, Lekki playing against Methodist Girls High School, Yaba, while Ansar-Ud-Deen Girls High School, Itire plays the second game of the day against Dowen College, Lekki.
Also, the Greensprings male team will play against Eko Boys High School, Mushin in an afternoon fixture, while the game between Kings College, Lagos and Anwar-Ul-Islam College, Agege wraps up the day.
On Friday, the female teams will again set the ball rolling with a match-up between Jibril Martin Memorial Grammar School, Iponri and Ansar-Ud-Deen College, Isolo.
In the second game, the defending champions Queens College, Yaba will seek to retain the trophy when they meet International School, Akoka.
The afternoon games will pitch Jubril Martin Memorial Grammar School, Iponri against St. Gregory’s College, Ikoyi, and St. Finbarr’s College, Akoka against International School, all in the male category.
This season has already produced an exciting array of football skills and talent, and the quarter-final games are sure to raise that excitement with eye-catching match ups.
Seven out of the 16 teams playing in the quarter finals have won the tournament in the past and will be looking to repeat the feat.
Three schools, Jubril Martins Memorial Grammar School, Iponri, International School Lagos, and Greensprings Schools, Lekki, will field both male and female contingents for the first time in this phase of the competition.
The GTBank Masters Cup, established in 2012, is an annual football competition for first generation and private secondary schools in Lagos State, to promote camaraderie and foster friendliness amongst competing schools.
Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank), Mr Segun Agbaje, while commenting on the competition, said, “We are proud to lead this initiative that provides an avenue for students to showcase their talents and passion for the game of football even as they remain committed to their academics.”
He further stated that, “This competition paves the way for youths to cultivate their sporting talents and aptitudes, while fostering and building a healthier lifestyle at a critical stage in their lives.”
GTBank is one of the few Nigerian financial institutions that has maintained a defined Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy since its inception in 1990.
The bank actively supports in-classroom and out-of-classroom educational programmes, infrastructure development, students’ scholarship and teachers training across Africa.