The Nigerian delegation to the inaugural African School Sports Championship in Annaba, Algeria, yesterday, left the country for the North African country ahead of the competition, tomorrow.

The delegation includes 60 student-athletes “carefully selected” to compete in 10 sports at the event scheduled to end on August 5.

The competition in Algeria will bring together over 3,000 athletes and coaches from the 51 African nations.

A breakdown of Team Nigeria’s athletes shows that 12 students will feature in athletics, eight in swimming, four in taekwondo and beach canoe each, while cycling and table tennis have two athletes each.

The football event has 18 players, while 3×3 basketball and badminton have three players each.

Speaking while seeing off the contingent, who departed for Algeria through the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, the Director General, National Sports Commission (NSC), Bukola Olopade, described the event as a milestone in Nigeria’s grassroots sports journey.

“This championship means a lot to us because it is about planting seeds. These student-athletes are ambassadors of our future. We are deliberate in creating pathways from the classroom to the global stage.”

Prior to departure, the team was camped at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, where they underwent training.

The Championship, organised by the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), aims to instill Olympic values in African youth and provide a structured platform for talent identification, integration, and development at the grassroots level.