INTRODUCTION

The Grassroots Sports Development Department was established to scout, identify and develop talents as well as raise fitness consciousness and mass participation in sports and recreational activities amongst the Nigeria citizenry.

FUNCTIONS OF GRSD

The main duties and responsibilities of the Grassroots Sports Development Department (GRSD) are:

• Guide the implementation of Grassroots Sports Development Policies to carefully increase the number and quality of talents in sports.

• Initiate policies on grassroots sports development in the country.

• Serve as linkage between the Ministry and Grassroots to scout and select sports talents for the National Team.

• Identify, nurture and develop sports talents.

• Plan, organize and coordinate the National Youth Games.

• Encourage mass participation of the citizenry in sporting activities.

• Coordinate and supervise the activities of the zonal offices.

• Coordinate school and youth sports activities within and outside the country.

• Coordinate the activities of NASCOM and other sports academies.

• Liaise with states to promote sports participation.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

The structure of the Grassroots Sports Development Department provides for three (3) Divisions and six (6) branches, to be headed by three (3) Deputy Directors and six (6) Assistant Directors.

The approved Divisions and Branches are as follows:

i. Institutional Sports Division (IS)

a) Military/Para Military Sports Branch

b) Other Institutions (NGO’s) Branch

ii. Schools/Collegiate Sports Division (SS)

a) Primary/Secondary schools Branch

b) Tertiary Schools Branch

iii. Zonal Offices Affairs Divisions (ZOA)

a) Northern Zones Branch

b) Southern Zones Branch

at the moment, the three (3) divisions are headed by the following;

i) Adeniyi Adisa Beyioku - DD (IS)

ii) Olalekan Alabi - Chief Statistician (SS)

iii) Ibrahim Abubakar - CEO (ZOA)

The Grassroots Sports Development Department has a Director, 1 Deputy Director, and 1 Chief Sports Officer, 1 Chief Executive Officer, 1 Chief Statistician and other category of staff at the Headquarters. 1 Deputy Director, 1 Assistant Director, 2 Chief Executive Officers, 2 Principal Sports officers and other categories of staff in the six (6) Geo-political Zones.

The six (6) Zones are responsible for bringing sports programmes and policies to the grassroots through daily interface with the State Sports Councils and the local communities in the states.

The six (6) Zonal Offices, location and their coordinators are;

1. South West Zone:- Ibadan - Mrs. Fabunmi Evelyn (Chief Sports Officer)

2. South East Zone:- Enugu - Mrs. Ayi Roseline M. (Chief Nursing Officer)

3. South-South Zone:- Benin City - Mr. Sylvester Essiet, U. (Assistant Director)

4. North Central Zones: - Jos - Mr. Akeem Saka (Chief Sport Officer)

5. North East Zone:- Bauchi - Musa Garba (Principal Sports Officer)

6. North West Zone:- Kaduna - Dan Mallam

ORGANOGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT

ORGANOGRAM HERE

PROGRAMMES OF THE GRASSROOTS SPORTS DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

• THE ANNUAL NATIONAL YOUTH GAMES

• INTRA & INTER ZONAL COMPETITIONS

• ANNUAL ONE SERVICE ONE MEDAL (OSOM) GAMES

• NATIONAL HEADMASTERS’ CUP

• NATIONAL PRINCIPALS’ CUP

• YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES

• AFRICAN YOUTH GAMES

• COMMONWEALTH YOUTH GAMES

• NATIONAL OPEN WATER SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP

NATIONAL YOUTH GAMES

The National Youth Games (NYG), which is in its 7th Edition, is a concept of the Federal Ministry of Sports Development (FMSD) as part of its strategic plan to reposition sports at the grassroots level and to ensure that the objectives of talent discovery and provision of level playing ground for Junior athletes is guaranteed in accordance with international best practices.

The NYG is an annual event that balances sports, National Orientation and education, where athletes age 15 years and below compete in sports as well as participate in National Orientation and education programmes (CEP). The NYG is open for participation for athletes from all the states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

However, there is a need for periodic camping and further training for identified athletes of the National Youth Games through regular competitions to keep them in form for international competitions.

ONE SERVICE ONE MEDAL (OSOM GAMES)

The One Service One Medal (OSOM) Games is a strategic project conceptualized by Federal Ministry of Sports Development in collaboration with Nigeria Olympic Committee to spur the Military and Para Military agencies in the country to identify and develop elite athletes that can bring laurels to the country. Participants are drawn from the Military and Para military agencies in the country to participate in this annual event.

NATIONAL HEADMASTERS CUP

The National Headmasters’ Cup of Nigeria (NHNC) is Multi sports, intra and inter schools’ sports competitions aimed at an increased turnover of star athletes from the schools to National and International levels. This competition creates a backward link in the talents identification and discovery strategy of Federal Ministry of Sports Development (FMSD).

The pupil in all primary schools (Private and Public) participates in the important annual sports competition.

NATIONAL PRINCIPALS CUP

The National Principals Cup provides a platform for the progressive monitoring and nurturing of the talents discovered at the National Headmasters Cup. Aside the sports competition opportunities, it exposes the students to various career paths pursuable within the sports sector. Students at the secondary level of their education compete for honours in this competition.

The Ministry is seeking consultant to source and raise funds to support the Ministry in this year’s National Principals Cup.

INTRA & INTER ZONAL COMPETITIONS

Intra and Inter Zonal competitions are quarterly Grassroots Sports Development programmes aimed at engaging the youths in the zones in various sporting competitions for the discovery of sports talents.

YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES

The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sports event organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The games are held every four years and team Nigeria participates in the games. Team Nigeria actively took part in the 2023 Youth Olympic Games, held in Trinidad & Tobago (Trinbago 2023).

AFRICAN YOUTH GAMES

The African Youth Games is an international multi-sports event, held every four years to complement the current All-Africa Games.

COMMONWEALTH YOUTH GAMES

The Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) is an international multi-sports event organized by the Commonwealth Games Federation. The games are held every four years with the current Commonwealth Games format. Team Nigeria participated in the 2023 CYG, held in Birmingham. The team Nigeria won 6 gold medals, 2 silver medals, and 1 bronze medal at the 2023 CYG Games