Sixteen FCT schools will compete at the inaugural Abuja Inter-Secondary Schools Athletics Championship (AISSAC) billed for the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, on May 28, 2022.
The championship is for athletes not older than 16 years old, Kesiena Oghoghorie, who is the Managing Partner of K.I.O. Consult, organisers of the championship, said.
The events on schedule are 100m, 200m, 400m, 4 x 100m Relay, 4 x 400m Relay, 4 x 400m (Mixed Relay), long jump and shot put. The championship will be conducted according to Athletics standard to ensure a level playing field for all participants, he said.
Oghoghorie said he was motivated to embark on the project to boost schools athletics, which decline in recent times has adversely affected the country’s performance at international meets.
He noted that sports engagement would help youths to develop their personal and interpersonal skills and talents, prepare them for the challenges of life and understand that hard work comes with results.
He projected that AISSAC will in the next 10 years become a national championship that will breed quality athletes for the country, just like the Jamaica InterSecondary Schools Boys and Girls Championship that produced the likes of Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake, among others.
Narrating his sojourn in athletics, Oghoghorie said in his final year at University of Kent, United Kingdom, he was made the athletics captain and represented the school at various national athletics championships, prompting the Kent County Athletics Association to draft him to represent the county at the England Inter-County Athletics Championships, where he ran close to his personal best over the 100m sprint.
He noted that with innovations such as AISSAC, athletics could be made attractive to students in Nigeria where football is the dominant sport, as it will bring together students to compete and ignite the love for the sport among them.
