As the countdown to the 2024/2025 Jos international polo tournament gets underway, a novel charity event would flag off the campaigns for honours during the polo festival that is reputed as one of the biggest sporting events in the country.
Secretary Jos Polo Club, Hassan Gashash disclosed that the event would be hosted by the Jos Polo Club in conjunction with a non-governmental charity organization, Hands of Help for the Nigerian Grassroots Economic Regeneration (HANGER) Project on Christmas day, December 25, as one of the major events that would herald the polo tournament this year.
A spokesperson of the HANGER Project, Alison Allanso, also confirmed that the event will be an-all day activities at the premises of the polo club, to put smile on the faces of the less privilege, orphans, persons with disabilities (PwDs), widows and the internally displaced persons from Jos and its environs in Plateau State.
Allanso also disclosed that gift items including food packages and other essential items would be handed out to participants during the event as part of the organizers intervention efforts to touch the lives of these less privileged Nigerians who are victims of the various crisis that has bedevilled the state in recent times.
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Apart from various food items to be given out during the Christmas Day event, it was equally gathered that the less privileged particularly the women and orphans would receive clothing materials, stationary and other educational materials to help them in pursuit of a better future.
“ We have been on this project for the past years and this year, we are hoping to reach out to about four hundred Nigerians or more, mostly children and women whose livelihoods have been badly affected by the current hardship in the country,” Allanso disclosed. “We thank all the donors for their support so far and also appeal to other well-meaning corporate organizations and individuals to come to the aid of the less privileged by donating to the project that would lift these unfortunate members of the society and give them hope during this festive period.”
Initiated by the President of Jos Polo Club and Secretary General of the Nigeria Polo Federation (NPF), Murtala Laushi that charity event would be concluded with a party for the Grooms and other workers of the club alongside widows of past workers of the club who would also smile home with various gift items from the organizers.
Polo enthusiasts in Nigeria and abroad will be treated to eight days of top notch experience as the 2024/2025 Jos international polo extravaganza gallops off with fanfare hours after the charity event on the Boxing-Day.
The fiesta that traditionally holds at the foremost General Hassan Polo Ground with over thirty teams vying for top laurels, will climax with pomp and ceremony on January 2, 2025.
Four traditional cup categories are the Governor Cup, Imani Cup, President Cup and NASCO Cup. Bouquet of subsidiary prizes would be on offer and participating teams would be locked in week-long galloping battles to decide the winners of the winter polo festival.
Laushi, the Jos polo supremo, has assured polo buffs and tourists that the club will host the best winter polo fiesta and will surpass previous editions in every respect in years.
“We have raised the bar and spectators will be thrilled with what they will see as some of the best polo players from across the world will be on parade,” he said. “Apart from showcasing the Nigerian players, we also expect professional players from abroad to be part of the grand event.”
Similarly, the Polo Captain, Yusuf Dauda, disclosed that participating teams are expected from clubs like Keffi, Bauchi, Yola, Argungu, Zaria, Minna, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Gombe, Jalingo and Abuja, among others.
As a major driver of tourism to Plateau State, the glamorous Jos polo festival revered for its excitement and friendship ambiance, remains the only polo event on the annual calendar of the polo season that thrills from the last week of December and thrills till the new year.