The Cross River Sports Council has assured that the state's athletes that performed brilliantly at the 5th National School Sports Festival (NSSF), will be groomed for the 2014 National Sports Festival (NSF).

Mr Jude Amadi, the state's Director of Sport told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos that the students impressed everyone with their sterling performance at Port Harcourt.

NAN reports that Cross River emerged the winner of the 5th edition of the NSSF with 89 gold, 88 silver and 87 bronze medals in the festival that held from Jan. 24 to Feb. 3.

"Most of the talents who had done the state proud at the just concluded NSSF will be enrolled for further training programmes for them to feature in the 2014 NSF," he said.

Amadi said that the state had set up a Sports Development Programme to groom talents, especially the one's discovered from the schools for future engagements.

He stressed that brilliant performance of the students at the NSSF was an attestation of the state's efforts to revive school sports.

The sports director told NAN that outstanding talents, who had done the state proud, would not be left in the lurch.

"The efforts of the state to revive school sports are gradually paying off because this is evident in their sterling performance at the NSSF.

"I also commend the government's procurement of modern equipment and the efforts of coaches to use these equipment judiciously to help discover more budding talents," Amadi said.

He said that the state government was putting the necessary machinery in place to ensure that the 2014 NSF was successfully organised.

NAN