By Etienne Mainimo
YAOUNDE, Cameroon – One of Cameroon’s finest veteran football clubs, Bui Strikers Veteran FC based in Yaoundé has resumed training after three months of inactivity due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The veteran football club started training on Saturday, June 20 at the usual training site at Cite Vert in Yaoundé. Speaking after training, the President of the Club, Adamu Wirngo said, it was wonderful to return to play after the difficult moment.
“We are very delighted to return to play after this trying moment and we are happy to be together again. The turnout was massive and before our training session this day, we reminded ourselves of the reality of the existence of the Covid-19 virus and the need to adhere to the measures given by the Cameroon government and World Health Organization, as well as other partners to stop the virus from spreading,” Adamu Wirngo said.
He added that, “We insisted on the fact that, members must wear their facemasks, as they leave their homes to the pitch and vice versa”. He reminded his teammates and all to also wash their hands regularly and in this case, before and after training.
Talking to Team Manager, Mr. Hyginus Sahka, he said, “I want to, first of all, thank God for bringing us back safely to our playing ground with no one taking ill of the virus. It has not been easy because it has affected many people and so many lives have been lost in our society. We had been hungry to come back to action earlier than this, but we had to give some time, monitor and, and follow up the spread of the virus. Thus, we had to take precautions to the best of our ability towards containing the pandemic. As you see, being the highest goal scorer with now 11 goals in 13 matches, I scored today but could not jubilate as usual because of the restrictions. It is difficult but we have to respect them and move on. The match was good and I am happy my team carried the day with a 2 to 1 victory.”
Team Captain, Derick Ngah on his part indicated that the Club has taken all necessary dispositions to contain the virus. “I think, today was a good day after a very long time without any sporting activity, but as you can see, the game was good and everyone was happy. It is true, we didn’t win at the level of the scores but there was a lot of creativity and zeal during the match.” He added.
He added that, “hopefully next week, better things will happen. Concerning the pandemic, we cannot be ignorant of the reality of COVID-19 but we have to keep on observing the various measures placed by government as we are playing. As you can see, we have made provisions for a water bucket and soap alongside first aid box.@
“COVID-19 is real and we should continue to observe the measures. If you doubt, take a look at how people are dying all over. We just have to learn how to live with it and that is why we decided to resume our activities. Our way of thinking, as well as the way we do things, must change,” Meye Godlove, Secretary-General, said.
Bui Strikers Veteran Football Club is a veteran club that has been existing since the 80s, but was restructured in 2007. After revising the mission and the vision of the club, Bui Strikers Veterans began focusing on youths to ensure there is no leadership gap. One of such was the successful organisation of the Bui Sport Fans Competition, and annual football competition to detect talents from Bui Division. The competition was already in its 9th edition before it was suspended.”
Bui Strikers hold that there are many talents in Bui Division that can make the Division and the country proud only if they are identified and promoted. Besides football, the club also extends its hand of fellowship to many communities in Bui Division.
The club members left the pitch with no major injuries and everyone was satisfied with how the training started. Also, everyone went home eager to return more active and stronger to participate in the next scheduled training session.
