Sports
MTN Schools’ Athletics Championships Set To Debut
All is now set for the maiden MTN Schools’ Athletics Championships tagged MTN CHAMPS, which is aimed at transforming school sports with four centres hosting the first edition across the country.
The tournament is the brainchild of Making of Champions (MoC) in collaboration with the Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF) with technical support from the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) will take place in the Southern, Eastern, Western and Northern parts of the country from this month to next month.
In a statement issued by the Main organizing Committee, MoC, over 7,000 athletes from 500 Schools across the four events, with each centre hosting the three-day Championships, in Benin, Uyo, Ibadan and Abuja for the inaugural season while the grand final will take place in Abuja where the best athletes discovered from each zone will converge for the finale.
According to the MoC, the ultimate goal of the MTN CHAMPS is to re-ignite grassroots athletics talent search across Nigeria to discover and develop the athletes that will deliver global medals and become future sporting legends for the nation.
To this end, the grand prize of season one will be full one-year sponsorships for 10 athletes discovered at MTN CHAMPS to join MoC Athletics Academy in Lagos, which MTN is supporting as Lead Sponsor in 2024, to enable the best talents discovered earn college or high school scholarships in US or Jamaica, and to train for a chance to represent Nigeria at future global competitions.
Over 1,800 athletes are expected to compete at the three-day tournament in each centre with Benin centre kick-starting the championships on October 12. The Abuja grand finale will be held on December 2.
Among the events to contest for include 100m, 100mhurdle, 200m, 400m, 4x100m, 800m, shot put, discus, long jump, triple jump, high jump.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.
