Osheku: Lagos Club Athletics Series Is A Breath Of Fresh Air

Respected athletics coach, Tony Osheku says the Lagos Club Athletics Series launched by the Lagos State Athletics Association, LASAA, on Wednesday in Lagos will change the face of track and field in Nigeria and commended the Solomon Alao led association for setting the pace in Nigeria.

The Lagos Club Athletics Series is a competition designed for athletics clubs across the country where athletes score points in each of the four-legged series.

Osheku believes the competition has come at the right time as the profile of Nigerian athletes and athletics have risen geometrically in the world following the world record perfromance of high hurdler, Tobi Amusan at the World Championships in Oregon, USA and the incredible feats Nigerian teenagers have been achieving, especially in the American collegiate circuit.

‘This is the best thing that has happened to track and field in Nigeria in recent memory outside the performances on the track and the field by the likes Amusan, Favour Ofili, Ruth Usoro and Ese Brume,’ said Osheku, an accomplished coached who trained Falilat Ogunkoya to win World and Olympic medals.

‘For the first time in this part of the world I see an athletics body recognising the importance of clubs as a way of developing athletics in the country. I remember when I was competing in the 1980s, athletics clubs were highly regarded by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, and states owned athletics clubs were the ones competing at the Nigerian Championships.’

‘I remember athletes in Lagos competed under Eko Akete athletics club while in the old Oyo state, they competed under Oluyole athletics club. It was Bagauda for Kano and Gateway for Ogun state.’

Osheku has thus called on other state athletics associations to emulate the innovation LASAA has brought into the sport.

The competition will take off with the opening leg on Sunday February 19 at the Sports Ground of Yabatech (Yaba College of Technology), Yaba, Lagos

The second leg will hold at Navy Town Ojo on April 15 while the University of Lagos Sports Ground will host the third series on May 6 with the final scheduled for Yabatech in June.

There will be prize money on offer at each leg of the series while overall winning club at the final will get #10,000,000.