The excitement on the faces of the athletes coupled with huge support from parents and guardians marked the exciting start of The Athletics School Games (TASG) held at the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) at the weekend.
From the sprint to field events, the athletes displayed exceptional talents while the lively atmosphere put in place by the organisers set the tone for the commencement of the first private inter-school athletics championships in Lagos.
Eleven of the 15 invited schools made up of four primary and seven secondary schools as the athletes competed fairly with their counterparts and this again affirmed the enormous talents that abound in schools across the country.
For the Founder of TASG, Seun Akinbohun, the turnout coupled with the conduct of the athletes showed that the tournament has been well accepted by the participating teams and athletes.
“It’s the first edition obviously there were hiccups but overall, it’s been an incredible day, the participants and parents are happy.
This is my own way of giving back, creating opportunities for children to showcase their talent. Sports play a huge role in the mental wellbeing of everyone; children and adults alike. This is a way for us to create that avenue.
The plan is to do this annually and we are hoping that we can get more support, more partnerships and that way, we can do it twice a year, maybe every quarter,” she said.
From the parents, the organisation coupled with the enthusiasm of the athletes singled out the tournament as a success.
“This is a fantastic initiative by the founder and I think it’s long overdue. We’ve been expecting things like this to happen. We’ve had inter-schools athletics competitions in the past but for some reasons, they’ve not been consistent. So I think this is a brilliant initiative because, there many children in our schools all over Nigeria who are talented but don’t have the opportunities to showcase their talents and this is one of the avenues with which their talent can be seen,” said Ann Dankaro
Another parent Peter Inekwe said: “This is a very huge opportunity for the children to develop and learn. The important thing is the platform created for the children and I know their development does not involve only academics but holistic, especially through sports, realizing the fact that you win sometimes and lose sometimes. That will help a child to develop and function well. My children were selected to participate in the competition and that’s why I’m here to support them and for the participants, seeing their parents being there for them, encourages children to give their very best and mentally, parents need to be there to guide their wards, telling them that they have won today or lost, there’s room for improvement for further development.”
“For an inaugural event, I believe it’s very well put together and everything ran smoothly, very professionally done, it was a great event. I hope support will come from various levels for the organizers to sustain the initiative. I will also like parents to encourage their children to explore sports. My child is here and when she showed interest, I encouraged her. Life is about balance, if you like something, you have to commit to it and do the work. Sports is also great for development, it teaches kids lessons they can also use in the future,” said Ibijola Aina.
Maltina Brand Manager Clementina Kayode affirmed their company’s commitment to the event. “It’s been an amazing experience seeing children displaying their talent, having fun and also expressing their competitive spirit from the races to other field events. As sponsor of the event. Maltina is excited to be part of this because we see the way the children are able to express athletics and we are hoping to support them through this platform to really meet up their aspirations and goals. This is the world standard and it’s great, you saw the timing of the participants, world standard from all children even the pre-teen and secondary school, it’s been really nice. There’s always room for improvement and I’m sure the next outing will be better than we witnessed,” Kayode said.