Ouagadougou: The Racing Club of Bobo-Dioulasso (RCB) achieved a remarkable performance by winning the national titles in the U15 and U17 boys' categories on Saturday, July 18 at the Ouagadougou Sports Palace, at the conclusion of the national U15 and U17 handball championships, AIB noted.
According to Burkina Information Agency, the Bobo-Dioulasso club entered four teams in this competition, including girls' and boys' under-14 and under-16 girls' and boys' under-18 categories. Of the four finals played, Sya's "Black and Whites" secured two titles, both in the boys' competition.
In the boys' under-14 final, RCB prevailed over Impact with a score of 25 to 22. In the boys' under-16 category, the Bobolais confirmed their supremacy by dominating AS Shalom 31 to 23, thus securing a second trophy.
However, the RCB women's teams were unable to capitalize on their opportunities. The under-15 girls lost to AS Shalom (19-16), while the under-17 girls were defeated by AS SONABHY 27-21. Despite these losses, the Bobo-Dioulasso players put up a good fight against their opponents.
For RCB coach Abdoul Aziz Sanfo, these results are the fruit of a detection and training work carried out in schools. 'We visit establishments with playing areas that are willing to host us. We present them with our project to develop the younger age groups, because training seniors requires more resources. With a minimum of motivation and quality work, we manage to build competitive teams,' he explained.
Held under the patronage of the Minister of Sports, Youth and Employment, Annick Pikbougoum, this edition of the U15 and U17 national championships offered, according to her, "some truly excellent finals." The Minister congratulated the various teams before encouraging the Burkina Faso Handball Federation to continue its efforts to develop and promote the sport.
The president of the Burkinabe Handball Federation, Boubacar Sanfo, for his part indicated that the federation was continuing its work of detecting young talents, particularly players with a large build, in order to strengthen the competitiveness of Burkina Faso on the international stage.
After the conclusion of the competitions for the younger categories, attention is now turning to the senior championships, scheduled for next August.