The Edo State Sports Commission, under the leadership of its Executive Chairman, Hon. Amadin Desmond Enabulele in its quest to practically take Grassroots sports development to the door steps of Edo indegenes,is commencing the implementation of its talent hunt programme.
The Grassroots development programme tagged ‘Discovering Tomorrow’s Stars’ is scheduled to hold at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium on Thursday,May 21,2026, beginning from 9.00am.
The initiative aimed at identifying and nurturing young sporting talents is being implemented across the three Senatorial Districts; Edo South ,Edo Central and Edo North with school children of Jss1- Jss3 as target.
To ensure the smooth execution of the programme, 45 technical officials have been drafted for the event, including 10 officials for athletics and five officials each for the seven combat sports.
Twenty secondary schools have been selected to participate in the talent discovery programme, with 10 athletes of mixed gender 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 the Edo State Sports Commission Hon Amadin Desmond Enabulele said that the catch-them- young programme is designed to encourage young Edo children to accept sports as part their culture.
“When we assumed office, we were given a mandate to go to the grassroots and ‘Catch Them Young,’ in line with Governor ’s grassroots-driven sports development vision 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 for every child to opportunity ,” Enabulele stated.
He revealed that a total of 270 athletes are expected to compete across eight sports, including Athletics, Judo, Karate, Kung Fu, Wrestling, Taekwondo, Boxing, and Kickboxing.
“Athletics will produce the highest 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 that all participating athletes would receive certificates of participation and souvenir as part of efforts to encourage and promote grassroots sports participation.
The ‘Discovering Tomorrow’s Stars’ initiative is one of the strategic programmes being developed by the Edo State Sports Commission to uncover fresh talents capable of representing Edo State and Nigeria in the future at national and international sporting competitions.
The event is scheduled to commence tomorrow at 9:00 a.m inside the main bowl of the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium.
