Blessing Obarierhu clocked a PB in the 400m.

Making of Champions (MoC) has reached an agreement with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) to host the National Junior and Youth Trials this weekend in Abuja on Friday June 16th and  Saturday  June 17th, 2017. The arrival date for Athletes for screening will be Thursday June 15th – online registration is necessary for participating athletes here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NationalJuniorYouthTrials

In a letter of invitation sent out to the different states and clubs on Monday, the AFN called for registrations for the different events that would be happening at the Abuja National stadium.

Although the competition has been announced at relatively short notice, MoC decided to provide sponsorship to partner with the AFN to host the competition this weekend because they are the only available dates left for Nigerian athletes to attain qualification for the African Junior (U20) Championships later this month.

The African Junior Championships in Algeria commences on June 29th-July 2nd, while the World Youth (U18) Championships in Kenya will hold from July 12th-16th, with the Commonwealth Youth Games holding in the Bahamas from July 19th-23rd 2017.

So by implication, Nigeria is fast running out of time to put together a team for the African Junior Championships, and not many athletes have yet secured qualification, owing to lack of competitions in Nigeria this year. It is also our understanding that the deadlines for entries to Algeria will happen some time in the next week.

Athletes who wish to compete at these trials, should do so by completing the online registration by midnight on Wednesday June 14th! See the attached letter of invitation from the AFN and the online registration for the full list of events for men and women at the Junior & Youth Trials.

The Championships should have been held back in April in Port Harcourt, but was postponed indefinitely, and then most athletes were either writing West African Examination Council (WAEC) exams or preparing for Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) exams.

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Athletics coverage was a discovery, having to move away from regularly writing about Football. Although it was initially daunting, but now being an authority in it makes the past effort worthwhile. From travelling on the same international flight with Nigerian athletes, to knowing you could easily interview: World Record holder Tobi Amusan, then Ese Brume, I have cut my teeth in this beat earning the trust of Athletics sources. Formerly the Content Manager-Sports at Ringier media Nigeria, Chris is a Senior Sports writer, Photographer & Community manager at Making of Champions.

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