From Wednesday, August 16th to Saturday, August 20th, 2023, the General Controller of the Republican Police and President of the NGO “Education through Sport” organized a tournament featuring several disciplines, including tennis, football, handball, and basketball. The various matches of the tournament were played at the SIKAF Community Sports Training Center in Bohicon, located in the Zou department in the center of Benin.
Beautiful matches, intense competitions with cheers of joy and excitement, that’s the spectacle offered by the 37 participants in the Zou Open Tournament on the fields of the SIKAF Community Sports Training Center in Bohicon. This initiative by Clovis Adanzounon, CEO of the NGO “Education through Sport,” aims to bring together young people from different departments of Benin through sports.
“I am at a loss for words to express my joy, as everything went smoothly,” rejoiced the promoter, who found that the players demonstrated extraordinary fair play in basketball, handball, tennis, and football demonstrations.
In his speech, Clovis Adanzounon thanked the sponsor of the tournament who provided trophies and several other rewards to the participants. “The players from Porto-Novo are very dynamic, and there is one young girl who is remarkable… These players have a strong mentality, a spirit of challenge and victory… I congratulate their coach,” he acknowledged.
All participants rewarded After the round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals, the finals of each discipline were played on Saturday, August 19th, 2023. At the end of the competitions, the winners as well as each member of the clubs were rewarded by Moussé Onifadé.
“I, with my decade-long experience in humanitarian sports, and him (Clovis Adanzounon, Ed.) with his spirit of solidarity and philanthropy, decided to combine our efforts to organize this tournament, which is the first edition,” he explained.
Moussé Onifadé, sponsor of the tournament, expressed his sense of duty fulfilled. “And for me, there is something that has been close to my heart from the beginning, the presence of a significant number of girls behind the cause of children and young people is very important. Girls make up the most significant subpopulation group. As long as they are not happy, society as a whole will not be either. So, I want to focus my actions on girls, especially the younger ones and, of course, the older ones.”
This is an action that Moussé Onifadé wants to perpetuate. “Instead of waiting for 12 months, I even suggested organizing a tournament at Easter and a Christmas tournament in December. Even if I wasn’t here, that would be three tournaments a year. It’s good to train the children, it’s good to try to motivate them, but it works especially through affection,” he added.
After the various competitions, the players and their coaches expressed their satisfaction. According to Patrice Ahoba, coach of the tennis club of the Zevougnon Foundation in Porto Novo, through this tournament, the children had a lot of fun. “They demonstrated what they learned in training, I’m really happy with this tournament. There’s still work to be done, as long as there’s work to be done, nothing is really done. So, we will continue the work, and the best is yet to come,” he promised.
Results of the competition In the Football category, the Winner FC club emerged victorious over the AS Tonnerre d’Agovèzoun club.
Participating Clubs 1️⃣ SIKAF (Bohicon_Houawé Agonvèzoun) President: General Controller of Police ADANZOUNON Clovis Coach: AHOGNIMETCHE G. Ruben 2️⃣ Zèvougnon ( Porto-Novo) President: Mrs. MEDEDJI Françoise Coach: AHOMBA Patrice 3️⃣ Pergola ( Abomey ) Coach: FANOU Bruno
Champions 🔸U11 ▪️Boys: Champion ADANZOUNON Christian (SIKAF) Runner-up: ADANZOUNON Divin (SIKAF) ▪️Girls: Champion: ADANZOUNON Houéfa ( SIKAF) Runner-up: AHOGNIMETCHE Béliza (SIKAF) 🔸U13 ▪️Boys: Champion: AHONOU Florent (ZEVOUGNON) Runner-up: ASSANGBE Morel (SIKAF) ▪️Girls: Champion: ADOKPO Victoire (ZEVOUGNON) Runner-up: AHOMBA Joëlle
🔸U15 ▪️Boys: Champion: MEDEDJI Malthis (ZEVOUGNON) Runner-up: HOUNDJENOUKON Jean-Eudes ( SIKAF) ▪️Girls: Champion: DOHOU Bénédicte (ZEVOUGNON) Runner-up: ADANZOUNON Patricia (SIKAF)
🔸U19 ▪️Boys: Champion: AHANVO Marius ( SIKAF) Runner-up: SOGLONOU Juste (ZEVOUGNON)
