The world will welcome new set of young talented grassroots athletes when the U-18 National Grassroots Sports Festival (NGSF) kicks off in Abuja on 20th April 2018.
The maiden sports event which aims at discovering and preparing future world champions for Nigeria is billed for the Packages A and B of the National stadium Abuja.
This inaugural edition is tagged ‘Sports for All’. The NGSF is an annual sporting event in which thousands of athletes across the country will participate in 24 sports, some of which include athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, chess, cricket, cycling, dart, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, karate, taekwondo, rugby and others.
For a sport to be included in a particular NGSF, a minimum of five states must register and participate.
Chief coordinator of the championship, Mr. Angelo Peter Elosia told www.bsnsports.com.ng in an interview that the tourney will solve the challenges of replacing experienced athletes facing the country, most importantly it will help to discover hidden talents, nuture them to become future world champions.
The creation of the tournament was inspired by Grassroots International Sports Academy in conjunction with Elo-Pee Worldwide Television and endorsed by the Ministry of Youths and Sports Development.
The decision making body, Main Organising Committee (MOC), is responsible for choosing the host city each year. Mr. Elosia Peter revealed that the state governments interested in hosting a particular edition should apply through submission of bid documents to the organizing committee.
For an athlete to be eligible, he or she must be below 18 years, resident of the state being represented, pay a participation fee of N10,000, must not have participated in two international and or three previous National Youth Games, among others.
The arrival date of the contingents is 19th April 2018. The opening and closing ceremonies shall be held in accordance with arrangements agreed upon by the MOC. The opening ceremony shall take place not earlier than a day before the commencement of the tournament while closing ceremony shall take place on the last day (29th April) of the festival, preferably a weekend.
