...The NSF Festival Will Be An Annual Event And Host City May Be Rotated
The President of Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), Engineer Toke Aka, says the 2023 Scrabble Festival will certainly add colour and glamour to the game of words and mind in Nigeria.
Engineer Toke Aka gave this assurance on Monday in a telephone conversation with your authoritative news channel FIRST ZEALMEDIACAST BLOG while outlining the final plans for the week long Scrabble Festival.
The seasoned sport administrator explained that the Federation has put in place all the necessary and needed logistics for a hitch free and memorable Festival.
The NSF has secured a solid hotel, that is Hotel de Bentley to accommodate the over 300 players drawn from the 36 States of the federation and Abuja competing in the Asaph Zadok National Championship, including players and officials of the 12 Clubs taking part in the Inter Club Championship grand finale, the NSF AGM and the Awards and Gala Night.
The Nigeria Scrabble Federation will not just accommodate these participants but also provide lunch for all.
Already FC Couture has the blessing and nod of Nigeria Scrabble Federation to design and produce the Green Jacket for the winner of the Asaph Zadok National Championship.
“We choose the colour green because of its significance to the nation as it symbolizes fruitfulness and productivity.” Aka the Managing Director of kadegg Nigeria Ltd, stated.
Eta Paul Oghenekaro affectionately called the Malaysian Prince by the Scrabble family as well as his buddies was the first player to wear the NSF National Championship Green Jacket in 2005.
The Nigeria Scrabble Federation Festival is a four events in-one. A National Scrabble Championship open to all players from the 36 States and FCT, the NSF Annual General Meeting, the Inter Club Championship grand finale and the Awards and Gala Night.
All these events will take place at the Classy Hotel de Bentley located at famous Okonjo Iweala street in Utako, Abuja from the 20th to the 26th of March.
Players and officials are expected to arrive Abuja on Sunday 19th, Asaph Zadok National Championship starts on Monday the 20th and ends the 22nd.
It’s a 28 games Championship, 10 rounds of games on Monday and Tuesday each while 8 games will be played on Wednesday.
The Asaph Zadok National Championship is a 28 rounds of games competition, 1 random, 22 lagged and 5 king of the hill pairings. Each player has 25 minutes per game while 2021 Collins Scrabble Words dictionary is the reference for the event.
The banquet hall of Hotel de Bentley will be the venue for the much anticipated Annual General Meeting of NSF on Thursday March 23rd.
The NSF Inter Club Championship which fainted after the 2014 edition was revived last year and 35 Clubs from 23 States started the journey to the grand finale in Abuja.
The quest to reach Abuja for the grand finale started with the Intra-state to Inter-state, then the zonal finals which produced 12 Clubs.
The grand finale of the NSF Inter Club Championship begins on Thursday the 24th and ends on Sunday the 26th.
This is the zonal representations of the 12 Clubs jamming for the over one million naira prize money on offer.
North East – 1, North West – 1, North Central – 2, South East – 2, South West – 3 and South South – 3.
Yola Scrabble Club of Adamawa, South Side Scrabble Club of Kaduna, Apex A Scrabble Club and Central Scrabble Club of from Abuja, Enugu Scrabble Club, Safari Scrabble Club of Owerri and Warri SC are the teams competing in the Inter Club grand finale.
Others are Yenagua Scrabble Club, Benin City Scrabble Club, Ikorodu SC, Lagos Pyramid A Scrabble Club and Ibadan SC.
Lagos Pyramid Scrabble Club are the Defending Champions of the Nigeria Scrabble Federation Inter Club Championship.
As for the Inter Club Scrabble Championship, it’s 20 minutes per game for each player, 15 games in the round robin stage, 5 in the quarter and semi finals each and 5 in the third placed and final each.
Already the draw for the grand finale of the Inter Club Championship has been made. The 12 teams have been divided into three groups of four teams each.
The top two teams in each of the group zoom into the quarter finals while the two best third placed teams from any of the three groups also advance to the last eight.
Yola Scrabble Adamawa, Yenagua Scrabble Club, Warri SC and Benin Scrabble Club are in group 1, Enugu Scrabble Club, Apex SC of Abuja, Central Scrabble Club Abuja and Safari Scrabble Club of Owerri are in group 2.
Group 3 comprises of South Side Scrabble Club of Kaduna, Ikorodu SC, Pyramid A Scrabble Club and Ibadan SC.
On Sunday night, the week long Scrabble Festival will come to a befitting close with the Awards and Gala Night at the same venue.
The Awards and Gala Night which is the icing on the cake, as it’s name suggest will be used by the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF), to reward and recognize players, coaches, administrators and sponsors who have distinguished themselves since the current board under the stewardship of Engineer Toke Aka, was elected and inaugurated in 2021.
Engineer Toke Aka who is also a Kogi High Chief further stated that the Festival will be an annual event to close the Scrabble season going forward and the host city will be rotated among the six geo-sporting zones of the country as the NSF dim fit.
The Ahmadu Bello University graduate, explained that this definitely shall be the new normal for scrabble activity in Nigeria. From grassroots to the centre. It is now time to end last year’s league, and this will be done in grand style.”
Key Dates And Festival Details
Sunday 19th, March – arrival of participants for the Scrabble Festival
Monday 20th – Wednesday 22nd, March – Asaph Zadok National Championship
Thursday 23rd, March – arrival of teams for the NSF Inter Club Championship grand finale
Thursday 23rd, March – Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Friday 24th – Sunday 26th March – NSF Inter Club Championship grand finale
Sunday 26th March – Award and Gala Night
, Engineer Toke Aka, says the 2023 Scrabble Festival will certainly add colour and glamour to the game of words and mind in Nigeria.){kind=link}