Nigeria’s number one news station, Channels TV has announced the launch of a new grassroots development programme tagged the “Channels Track and Field Classics”.
The two-day event will take place on 11 to 12th November, 2018 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium. Action will start from 9am.
The athletics competition is for boys and girls in Secondary schools, under the age of 17. Participants must be bona fide students of their schools and will be required to provide genuine proof of identification.
For the maiden edition, the tournament will be strictly invitational for schools in Lagos state where over a thousand students from the six educational districts in Lagos state will compete.
Participants will compete in the following events: 100m, 200m, 400m, 4 X 100m relay, 4 X 400m relay, 400m hurdles, 800m and Long Jump.
According to the organisers, the major objective of the competition is to re-ignite the interest of athletics in schools, discover and nurture talents for the country.
The event which is done in conjunction with the Lagos State Sports Commission will monitor the talents after the tournament and also encourage them to also excel in education.
Channels television grassroots development campaign started in 2009 with the Kids Cup, a football competition for U-13 boys in primary schools which is now an international tournament, with schools from Ghana and Benin Republic competing.
The track and field classics will also feature an exhibition event involving blind and amputee athletes.