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The Edo State Sports Commission, under the leadership of its Executive Chairman, Hon. Amadin Desmond Enabulele, in his bid to practically bring grassroots sports development to the doorsteps of Edo indegenes, is commencing the implementation of his talent hunt programme.
The grassroots development program dubbed “Discovering Tomorrow’s Stars” will be held at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium on Thursday, May 21, 2026, starting from 9am.
The initiative aimed at identifying and cultivating young sporting talents is currently being implemented in the three Senatorial Constituencies; Edo South, Edo Central and Edo North targeting school children of Jss1-Jss3.
To ensure the smooth execution of the program, 45 technical officials were recruited for the event, including 10 officials for athletics and five officials each for the seven combat sports.
Twenty secondary schools were selected to participate in the talent discovery programme, with 10 mixed-gender athletes representing each school in various sporting events including athletics, Judo, Karate, Wrestling and Taekwondo, among others.
Speaking ahead of the event, the Executive Chairman of Edo State Sports Commission, Hon Amadin Desmond Enabulele, said the catch them-young program is designed to encourage Edo children to accept sports as part of their culture.
“When we assumed office, we were given the mandate to go grassroots and “catch them young”, in line with the Governor’s vision of grassroots-led sports development under the SHINE Agenda. This is exactly what we intend to achieve with this project. So, we are taking it to the local government level to give opportunities to every child,” Enabulele said.
He revealed that a total of 270 athletes are expected to compete in eight sports, including track and field, judo, karate, kung fu, wrestling, taekwondo, boxing and kickboxing.
“Athletics will produce the largest number of participants with 200 athletes, while the seven combat sports – Judo, Karate, Kung Fu, Wrestling, Taekwondo, Boxing and Kickboxing – will each feature 10 athletes,” he added.
He said all participating athletes will receive participation certificates and souvenirs as part of efforts to encourage and promote grassroots sports participation.
The “Discovering Tomorrow’s Stars” initiative is one of the strategic programs developed by the Edo State Sports Commission to discover new talents capable of representing Edo State and Nigeria in the future in national and international sports competitions.
The event is scheduled to begin at 9am tomorrow inside the main pitch of the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.
