Making of Champions is 10! Having set the pace over the years as Nigeria’s leading Sports Media and Management company, it’s been an incredible journey so far that has been equal parts challenging and exciting, so we’re celebrating the giant strides made by the company in style!
As MoC enters its 10th year, the organisation is expanding its scope of operations by transitioning into a Sports Media, Events and Talent Management company, having organised some of Nigeria’s biggest Track and Field meets over the years, including the MoC Grand Prix, which has become one of the most important fixtures on the Athletics Federation of Nigeria’s (AFN) calendar.
MoC’s 10th year anniversary celebrations will kick off with the unveiling of three initiatives covering 10 Elite and School Athletics events over a 10-month period, running from September 2023 to June 2024. The first initiative, which will set the ball rolling, is MoC’s Secondary School Athletics CHAMPS, inspired by Jamaica’s century long annual tradition, with the Title Sponsor set to be unveiled next month!
CHAMPS is set to be the biggest secondary school Athletics showpiece in recent years, with up to 10,000 Athletes expected to participate across four regions in September and October 2023, namely Ibadan, Benin, Uyo and Abuja, featuring over 30 Track and Field disciplines cutting across the sprints, relays, jumps, hurdles and middle distances amongst others.
The event will cater to three age categories: Boys’ & Girls’ Cadets (U14), Youth (U17) Athletes exclusively for secondary schools in the host cities, and the Junior category, which will be open to all other teenage athletes to contest for honours, with up to 1248 medals up for grabs.
MoC will partner with Roster Athletics, the leading Competition App globally, operating in 18+ Countries & in partnership with World Athletics, for live real-time engagement with Athletes & fans globally for CHAMPS, making it the first time the app will be used in Nigeria to transmit live results & team standings on all android & iPhones.
The final dates for the four Secondary School CHAMPS will be confirmed when the sponsors for the series are unveiled, although the competitions are confirmed for the 1st term of the 2023/2024 academic year.
The second initiative being unveiled is the MoC Academy Trials, which has three competitions – MoC School Classics, MoC School Relays and MoC School Finals – billed to hold in January and February 2024, following in MoC’s rich tradition of discovering and developing talents for the future, having organised events like the Top Sprinter Auditions held at different states across the country, leading to the discovery of several talents who have gone on to represent MoC and Nigeria at several national and international competitions, and winning medals in the process.
The MoC Academy Trials series will mark the return of the MoC Athletics Trials after the last three-leg edition in 2018 (in Ughelli, Port Harcourt and Enugu), and the ND Western/MoC Trials held in Benin in 2022!
Elite athletes will have the opportunity to compete in three competitions namely the 4th MoC Grand Prix, 2nd MoC Relays and MoC Challenge Final – all under the auspices of the MoC Athletics Challenge – the third initiative marking MoC’s 10th Anniversary celebrations and scheduled for April to June 2024.
The 4th MoC Grand Prix was initially slated for June 2023 but had to be moved to 2024 due to logistical reasons. Five of the 10 events are already confirmed, while the other five will hold tentatively, subject to the availability of sponsorship. The final selected locations and dates of the five tentative events will be decided in accordance to the needs of the sponsors of those events when they are confirmed.
MoC’s sojourn within the sporting terrain of the country, continent and the world at large has been nothing short of inspiring. Cheers to 10 years of making impact, and to many more of transforming the sporting landscape in Nigeria and beyond!
