Since 2010, St. Jude’s Girls has been a force to be reckoned with, clinching the championship title seven times in the past eight years. Their latest victory came at the Atlantic Conference held in Asaba, where they faced off against DomDomingos College from Warri, Delta State. With a final score of 14 points to 12 points, St. Jude’s Girls secured their place in the finals, leaving their opponents in awe.

As the anticipation builds for the finals of the Nestlé MILO Basketball Championship 2023, all eyes will be on St. Jude’s Girls Secondary School, as they strive to claim yet another well-deserved victory and solidify their reign as basketball champions.
“We have been working so hard back in Bayelsa to build this team for the last two years. Although we won the conference, we believe there are a lot of things we need to put together to get to the national standard. That is what we will do when we go back home”, he said.

The Bayelsa born coach said further, “We are defending champions, and most of these players are just coming up, so we really thank God that we could get to this level. We are going to Lagos, a place we always go to every year, where we have been named champions seven-times. The team will go back home to Bayelsa to correct our mistakes during the Atlantic Conference to enable us triumph again at the national finals in Lagos.”

Coach Nelson has dedicated the past thirteen years to coaching three distinct teams in Bayelsa State: St. Jude’s Girls Secondary School, Belary Schools, and Bishop Dimieari Grammar School. Additionally, he has served the Bayelsa State Sports Council, where he has trained an impressive number of over 100,000 basketball players for various competitions and camps. Throughout his career, Coach Nelson firmly believes that success is achieved through a combination of heartfelt prayers to God and relentless hard work.

Nelson said, “What really drives me to do what I do is that I enjoy working with children and teaching. I enjoy making impact on young people. I like seeing young people become something. I go to schools to get these children, bring them to the sports complex and begin to teach them. The drive in it is to see them succeed, to see them become champions and to see them become leaders.”

In the boys’ division of the Atlantic Conference, Urhobo Model College in Effurun, Delta State emerged victorious with a score of 28 points against Bishop Dimieari Grammar School from Ovom, Bayelsa State, who scored 24 points.

Both St. Jude’s Girls Secondary School in Amarata, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, and Urhobo Model College in Effurun, Delta State, have earned the privilege to represent the Atlantic Conference at the upcoming national finals of the 23rd MILO Basketball Championship in Lagos in July.

Joining them in Lagos for the national finals will be the winning teams from the Savannah Conference, which took place in Kano from May 3rd to May 10th, the Central Conference held at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja from May 12th to May 19th, and the Western Conference in Ibadan, which ran from May 30th to June 6th, 2023.

Mr. Olutayo Olatunji, the Category Manager for Beverages at Nestlé Nigeria, emphasized Nestlé’s unwavering commitment to nurturing talent, promoting healthier lifestyles, and instilling values for success in life through sports.

“MILO, firmly believes that through participation in sports, children learn enduring values to help them achieve success in life,” he said.

“We are therefore, pleased to have this opportunity to provide a platform where young talents find expression through MILO Secondary School Basketball Championship. On the field of play, the teams depend on the discipline, perseverance, courage, self-belief, and respect that they imbibe during practice and through their interactions with each other. These life skills are not only for basketball; they equip the players to navigate their careers and to be productive in society. This is grit, learned from sports but useful in every area of life.”

For over 23 years, the Nestlé Nigeria’s MILO Secondary School Basketball Championship has been dedicated to promoting the value of grit among schoolchildren. This championship has become a platform for learning essential life skills such as resilience, persistence, stamina, cooperation, and self-belief. By instilling these values, the championship empowers young participants to conquer challenges and accomplish their goals in life.

Through its MILO Basketball Championship, Nestlé Nigeria continues to take the lead in grassroots sports development within the country. This initiative not only contributes to the growth of Nigerian national teams but also nurtures talent that goes on to represent notable clubs worldwide.

The Atlantic Conference of the MILO Basketball Championship, held at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba from May 20th to 27th, 2023, featured intense competition among various states. The participating states included Bayelsa, Imo, Enugu, and the host state, Delta. Additionally, Ebonyi, Rivers, Cross River, Akwa-Ibom, and Abia also showcased their basketball skills during the event.

Since its inception in 1999, the MILO Basketball Championship has experienced remarkable growth. It initially involved around 500 schools, but it has now expanded its reach to over 10,000 schools, engaging more than 150,000 individual players across Nigeria annually.