As preparations are in top gear for the commencement of this year’s national finals of the Nestle Milo Secondary Schools championship, a stakeholder in the game in the country, Bimbo Faniran, has said this year’s edition of the championship will be full of surprises.

Faniran, who is the leader of the national supporters club called D’Hoopers, said with the names of teams that qualified for the national finals, this edition promises to live up to expectations.

He said: “I have seen the names of schools that qualified for the national finals and am convinced that they are up to the task.

“That means, this year’s edition will be of surprises. No team is a push over and at the end I want to see the best team in both the boys and girls categories emerging winners,” he said.

He expressed appreciation to the sponsors, Nestle Nigeria Plc and the organiers, Nigeria School Sports Federation in conjunction with the National Collegiate Sports Foundation (NCSF) for the success of the championship in the past and urged them not to relent on their efforts.

“We must continue to thank Nestle for the development of the game of basketball in the country and the NSSF for their support in helping to groom and discover the hidden talents,” he said.

This year’s national final of the championship dunks off on Tuesday, August 12 at the indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos to end on Saturday, August 16.

All the participating schools at this year’s national finals in the girls category are: Girls Government Secondary School, Numan, Adamawa State; Jesus College, Benue State; West End Mixed Secondary School, Delta State; Yejide Girls Grammar School, Ibadan, Oyo State; C.A.C Grammar School, Akure, Ondo State and St. Jude’s Girls Secondary School, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

In the boys category are General Murtal College, Yola, Adamawa State; Government Secondary School, Gboko, Benue State; St. Augustine’s Seminary, Ezzangbo, Ebonyi State; Henson Demonstration Secondary School, Edo State; Ilupeju Senior Secondary School, Ilupeji, Lagos State and Osadenis High School, Asaba, Delta State.

The first placed teams in both the boys and girls categories will go home with the championship trophy and N150, 000 prize money each while the second and third placed teams will take home N120, 000 and N100, 000 respectively.

There will also be individual prizes for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in both categories as well as the Best Behaved teams with lots of Nestle Milo products for all the participating teams and certificates of participation.