SPORTS IN THE LATE 80s

Before the August gathering in Chicago, just want to chip in some info on sporting activities at GSSA in the late 80s.

Sport took center stage at GSSA during this period, albeit, mostly Football, Athletics and handball. Skeletal cricket was played beyond 1985 – I think Itiri Egwu (Please) captained the cricket team. We heard that they even defeated Govtcolleges Umuahia and Owerri and went on to represent Imo State at the National sport festival Kwara 85 (not too sure about this info, but the stories were floated around that time.

In football we were indomitable around Afikpo LGA then. We defeated just about any school that came our way and it was always glorious watching the boys tap leather in those days. We had great players like Akimbo (please), Iremity(Please), Chinasa Uga (Ugarius), Cyril Anugwo (with a very lethal shot), Alaohuru, The Omusukus, Paul Irabor(Rumpus), oin Ugochukwu Onu just to mention a few. Our sport masters then were all very passionate about sport renaissance at GSSA – such teachers like Mikasa, Anyanwu (who was rumoured to have played for the Old Spartans) and Oko Bongo gave their best. I recall once in 1988 when we were to play Amasiri Secondary school at our school ground. majority of the school football players were boarding students, and on that fateful day, there was no water for the cooks to prepare lunch – the oins didn’t fetch water in the morning before going to class, and by the time classes ended at 2:00pm and they went to fetch water for the cooks to prepare the food, it was almost 4 pm kick off time. We were at the verge of being “walked over” when the boys ran straight from the refectory to the football pitch – we later won the game – 1-0, thanks to a goal by Inya Rubber. Our greatest fan then, and the unofficial leader of the fans club used to be the school gate man, popularly called “Man die go”

Later that evening, the refectory Master, the uncompromising bachelor, Mr “Itara Unwana” Egwu ordered that every boarding student must fetch a bucket of water that evening from Ukpa village or forfeit his meal – we the class 5 students refused to fetch the water, since it was an affront on our “pride and ego” and … you can guess what came out of it. Yours truly was however, a bit naive to have gone to Assembly the next morning (because I was one of the band boys and was to play the base drum during the national anthem and got called out and my punishment? – well, was to dig 2 holes in front of the renovated library and plant trees there.

Back to sports, we excelled in athletics too. we had great distance runners like Sunday (Please) (who became the sport captain in 1987 set), Ade de Photographer, and Aki Oke (oin). Some went as far as representing Okigwe (educational) zone at the state school competition in Owerri (one person at least went on to play professional football and currently plays in Sweden). The annual Interhouse sport event was the landmark of the school year and usually looked forward to. All the houses, 9 of them as at then, used to build their own booths around the football field and the games were keenly contested. between 1983/1984 through to 1988, Okpara House usually top the house table at the end of the interhouse sport events – chiefly because the Okpara House Master during this period was also in charge of registration for the new intakes and assigning houses to them. So he usually selected the best sport students and group them in Okpara house. Such was the importance of interhouse sport – it provided an uncensored avenue for interaction with female students from Ibiam girls and John Bosco commercial school among others. Cross country runs (held once every term) used to be fun, especially if the date tallies with the day Ibiam girls students will have their own cross country run (Sergent Oye and Corporal Bala used to ensure that it falls on those dates).

P.S. Maurice Obi Nwankwor (Please) if your trip to Europe in August will take you down southern Germany, do holler me so I can show you around the land of the Schwabians (around Stuttgart).

Have a great day
Chidi Anagu
1983-1988 set
Afikpo House