On the evening of Wednesday, 6th August 2025, the usually quiet auditorium of Bagabaga College of Education was transformed into a hall of celebration, pride, and laughter. The occasion? A grand dinner and awards ceremony in honour of the gallant sportsmen and sportswomen whose sterling performance at COESA 2025 left the name of BACE glittering like gold in the northern skies.
The high table was a show of authority and support, graced by the Principal, the Vice Principal, the College Registrar, the College Librarian, the Finance Officer, the Internal Auditor, the Dean of Student Affairs, and a cross-section of teaching staff, including some heads of departments. One could almost hear the walls whisper.
On the right side of the auditorium sat the technical team and coaches, the unsung tacticians who had trained, drilled and sometimes scolded the athletes into victory. On the left, the SRC President and his executives kept watch like proud generals reviewing their troops. In the middle, directly facing the high table, sat the heroes of the evening: the sportsmen and women of BACE, dressed not in jerseys and spikes this time, but in graceful smiles.
The programme was well-structured, alternating between speeches, laughter, and applause. Individual awards celebrated outstanding performers, those who had run faster than the wind, thrown farther than the eye could follow and defended goals as if guarding the gates of a royal palace. Team awards honoured the collective strength that had carried BACE to a respectable 4th position at COESA 2025.
It was a moment that embodied the saying, “A person who does not appreciate a good deed has a short memory.” BACE proved it has a long and grateful memory indeed, honouring its champions with words, applause and tokens that will forever remind them of their place in the college’s sporting history. As one speaker quipped, “Any institution that does not honour its heroes is not worth dying for” a statement that drew nods of agreement from every corner of the room.
By the close of the ceremony, it was clear that this was more than just a dinner. It was a symbolic torch-lighting, marching BACE sports into a brighter and more determined future. As the elders say, “The sun does not forget a village because it is small.” Neither will Bagabaga College of Education forget the achievements of its athletes, no matter the size of the trophy cabinet.
Long live BACE.
Long live the spirit of sportsmanship.
And may the next COESA see our heroes return with even greater spoils.
