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…30 Schools, 500 Student-Athletes Set for Athletics Showdown in Ughelli
The eighth edition of the Government College Ughelli (GCU) Relays has been scheduled to hold on November 14, 2026, with organisers retaining the competition’s traditional second-Saturday-of-November calendar.
The date was formally approved by the President General Worldwide of the Government College Ughelli Old Boys Association (GCUOBA), His Royal Majesty Albert Akpomudje, SAN, during the association’s latest National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.
The NEC also approved other major GCUOBA programmes, including its annual dinner in Benin City in October and the Lagos Luncheon scheduled for December.
According to a statement issued by the GCUOBA Media Team, the 2026 GCU Relays will take place shortly after the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, scheduled for October 31 to November 13.
The newly appointed head of the GCU Relays, retired Commodore Omatseye Nesiama, is expected to play a major role in the organisation and technical delivery of this year’s competition after serving as one of the Technical Directors at the Dakar Youth Olympic Games.
Nesiama, a former Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and chairman of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) Technical and Development Commission, is expected to bring his wealth of experience to bear on the organisation of the Ughelli event.
He will work closely with the Delta State Sports Commission, which is expected to provide the TimeTronics electronic timing system, as well as the Nigerian Association of Athletics Technical Officials (NAATO), to ensure accurate timing and efficient conduct of the competition.
The 2026 edition is expected to attract more than 30 schools and 500 student-athletes to the tartan track of Government College Ughelli, Delta State, for what promises to be another major inter-school athletics contest.
Although the 2026 event is the eighth edition, the competition is entering its ninth year, following the loss of one edition to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since its inception, the GCU Relays has grown into an important platform for the development of young athletics talents and the revival of the historic sporting rivalry among Nigeria’s old secondary schools.
The competition has also provided an avenue for promising young athletes to gain competitive experience and attract attention from coaches, sports administrators and talent scouts.
The athletics facility at Government College Ughelli was built and donated to the school through the NNPC-SHELL Joint Venture.
With its blend of grassroots athletics development, inter-school competition and the revival of traditional school rivalries, the GCU Relays has continued to establish itself as an important fixture on Nigeria’s secondary-school athletics calendar.
