The Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenagoa will come alive on Monday, January 27, 2025 as over 200 athletes from more than 25 secondary schools in Bayelsa will converge to battle for honours in a one-day athletics.
The annual athletics meet, which is the fourth in the series, is being organized by the Samkay Athletics Academy in collaboration with the state Ministry of Education and the state Athletics Association.
The one-day athletics event which will commence at 8a.m., is intended to discover young, budding talents in track and field events.
A joint statement by the Secretary of the Samkay Athletics Club, Priye Roberts and the Coordinator of Schools Sports in the Bayelsa State Ministry of Education, Mr. Godwin Adagbo, indicates that already invitation has been extended to select public and private schools across the eight local government areas of the state.
The events that will be competed for at the one-day meet include 100metres, 400metres, 800metres and long jump for boys and girls.
In an exclusive interview, Founder of the Samkay Athletics Academy, Dr Kolawole Oredipe assured that his organisation is well-prepared for the one-day event.
Noting that Samkay Academy was working in conjunction with the state Ministry of Education, that will release the students to participate in the event and the state Athletics Association that will provide technical support, Oredipe said the prize money for first position is N20,000, first runner-up N10,000 while the second runner-up will receive the sum of N5,000.
Dr Oredipe, who doubles as the Vice Chairman of the state Athletics Association, said the organizers are providing logistic support by paying for transportation to move the students to the stadium in Yenagoa.
It will be recalled that the Founder of Samkay Athletics Academy, Dr Kolawole Oredipe, in his bid to catch-them-young, earlier this week, donated running canvass to four students of the Ijaw National Academy (INA) who distinguished themselves after a mock 100m event at the school playground.
At the brief event, Dr Oredipe, who doubles as the Vice Chairman of the State Athletics Association, charged the students to embrace sports in order to build a more robust career in addition to their academic pursuits.
The Founder of Samkay Academy, who stated that the kits were given to help harness their talents, advised the students to take their studies seriously while they specialize in a particular sports activity as they grow.
He remarked that Bayelsa State is blessed with great talents that can be sourced from primary and secondary schools across the state, adding that such talents when discovered and properly groomed, will excel and become successful national and international sports men and women that will make the state and nation proud.
The "orientation into athletics" was supervised by officials of the state Athletics Association, with the Principal of Ijaw National Academy, Mr Desmond Tamgbe and members of staff, in attendance.
