LSAA Promises Exciting 2nd Edition of DT/Lagos Athletics Series

Kunle Adewale

Following the success of the maiden Deji Tinubu (DT)/Lagos Club Athletics Series, the Chairman of the Lagos State Athletics Association (LSAA), Solomon Alao, has promised a repacked second edition of the meet.

The four-leg tournament was staged for clubs across the country while some schools also featured in the championships with the grand finale held at the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) Sports Complex.

According to Alao, the success recorded at this maiden edition has motivated the association to expand and add more glamour to the meet.

His words: “I’m quite elated to be honest. It’s been a long journey and we are glad that we didn’t have any negative incident, no untoward accident or injuries and their were few scares but all the athletes did creditably well and fared well. “The events were well attended and the competition has been well received. The competition is only starting, this is the first edition but this simply means that this is a good idea, this is a good product and it’s only for the athletes and officials, it’s good for brands, clubs, and schools and anybody who is interested in developmental sports, education, discipline, focus and learning what it means to strive for a goal and so on.”

He added: “For me, it’s doing things right, getting it right the first time. Now, the future looks a little bit scary because to outdo what we have done which is what is expected, the expectations of us now will not be a mean feat but we are determined and we will do it. You can expect a bigger competition, bigger venue. 

Technical Director, Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Samuel Onikeku, similarly commended the LSAA for putting up a good show.

“The AFN is proud to collaborate with the DT/Lagos Athletics Club Series. From the first to the final leg, it was the federation that registered it on the World Athletics and this is part of the plans we have with the event for a along time. “The AFN can’t do everything but collaborate with states athletics associations to make the sport better. Even next year, we are planning to go zonal and have the athletes converge for the final in Benin City for the trials,” he said.

27 clubs and three schools took part in the N10million prize money meet.