Harmans House wins Kings College’s 99th inter-house competition

Harmans House at the weekend retained the title at the Kings College’s 99th annual inter-house athletics competition held at the school’s sports ground, Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.

The house, also known as Green House, won the 2018 and the current 2019 sports competitions back-to-back.

The fierce competition had board members, parents, students of the college and sports enthusiasts cheering the athletes as they vied for honours in both the junior and senior, as well as visually impaired events including athletics, long and high jump, shot put, javelin, football, basketball, cricket, tennis, discuss, volleyball and scrabble, among others.

There were also invited schools’ relay race, old boys race, parents, academic and non-academic staff race, both in the male and female categories, with winners smiling home with medals and gifts.

Harmans House (Green) emerged the overall winner by topping the medal table with a total of 56 medals, comprising 24 gold, 21 silver and 11 bronze medals, beating Hyde Johnson House (Red), which secured 16 gold, 16 silver and 13 bronze medals to clinch the second position.

Panes House (Blue) garnered 16 gold, 13 silver and 17 bronze medals to finish in third place, leaving Mckee Wright House (Yellow) in the fourth position with four gold, 10 silver and 19 bronze medals.

Speaking at the event, the Director and Principal, Kings College, Lagos, Kolawole Isaac Shola said the children displayed excellent talents in all the sports activities, which should be developed and harnessed by the country.

He lamented that lack of grassroots’ development has been a major challenge in the nation’s sports, noting that the sports federations have not been coming to schools to hunt for young talents.

Also speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono,who was represented by the Director, Basic and Secondary Education, Dr. Lami Amodu, commended the spirit of sportsmanship displayed by all competitors, noting that records have been broken as budding talents, who will make Nigeria and Africa proud in the future have been discovered.

“Sports is recognised in the world as an integral part of formal education. This is due to the invaluable contribution of sports to the physical, mental and emotional development of the learner. There is hardly any recognised sport that does not call for the combined exercise of mental and emotional capabilities of the individual athlete. When these faculties are sharpened through sports, application to studies becomes relatively easy, but when they are not, academic work becomes drudgery,” she stressed.

Amodu said this explained why the National Policy on Education included physical and health education in the curriculum at the Basic and Secondary level.

She added that the school has produced talents that have represented the country both nationally and internationally, with the likes of Nkune, A.K Amu, G.A. Garrick, Ben Enahoro, L.C. Ogbolu and T.A Falana, among other Kingsmen.

She, however, urged to the school to retain its tradition and surpass the feats of the past glories by maximising the limited resources available to them.