Over 500 students from schools across the 57 Local Council Development Areas of Lagos State participated in the one-day United Athletics Series, which took place at the UNILAG Sports Centre during the weekend.
The series was put together by Culture Rush in collaboration with school games, the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board and the Lagos State Sports Commission.
Participants competed in 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, 4×400 meters relay and long jump in the boys and girls categories.
The organiser of the championship, Adeyemi Egbeoluwa, revealed that there are plans to have U-14, U-15 and U-16 academies where the selected athletes will be camped and trained to become world beaters in track and field.
“My decision to organise the championship is based on the fact that we pay attention to athletes in secondary schools and institutions of higher learning while in the fact we are supposed to start from the primary schools to correct the link and discover these athletes early enough to nurture them to stardom as it is done in other climes.
“There’s no going back on our plan to make Lagos State the hub of athletics not only in Nigeria but the entire West African sub-region,” he added.
Director of School Sports, Lagos State Sports Commission, Oluyomi Oluwasanmi said the championship is in line with the state’s plan of ensuring that students combine education with sports.
Education Secretary of Lagos Island Local Government Area, Tijani Tajudeen, as well as a board member of LASUBEB, Babatunde Jimoh, in their separate remarks, described the championship as a good initiative capable of helping in the development of athletics at the grassroots level.
