The first edition of the Abuja Female Barracks Youth Championship 2018 has commenced at the Sport Complex in Mogadishu Cantonment Abuja. The Female Youth Championship which is being organized by the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) from 2 – 5 October 2018 is an initiative of the Chief Defence Staff (CDS), General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin. The aim is to encourage female youths in the Barracks to participate in sporting activities with a view to promote their mental and physical wellbeing. The participants drawn from: Mogadishu Cantonment, Mambilla Barracks, Lungi Barracks and Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Base are competing for laurels in the game of Basketball, Volleyball and Badminton.
Speaking while performing the jump-ball ceremony, the CDS, who was the Special Guest of Honour, said that the youth Championship was in line with his vision to promote grassroots sport in the Barracks where new athletes could be discovered to represent the country in future national and international tournaments. 
The CDS who was represented by the Director of Plans at the DHQ, Rear Admiral Dogara Albehu, encouraged the athletes to compete fairly, bearing in mind the spirit of sportsmanship while urging the referees to display unbiased officiating throughout the Championship.
In his comments, the Director of Sports, DHQ, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Dayo Adelouye while thanking the CDS for initiating the games, said the championship was to promote gender equality among the Barracks Youths. AVM Adelouye recalled that the Male Championship was held during the third quarter of this year. He further expressed confidence that the sporting events will be sustained, as more games will be introduced in the subsequent edition.
Meanwhile, a breakdown of the sporting event for the Female Youth Championship, shows that following teams was expected to participate in Basketball, this include, the NAF Rocket of NAF Base, Scorpion Net of Mambilla Barracks, Golden Touch of Mogadishu Cantonment, others are Full Force of Mambilla Barracks, Elite Academy of Mogadishu Cantonment, and the Hill Top of Lungi Barracks.
Meanwhile, the Jet Spikers I and Jet Spikers II both of NAF Base, Defence Strikers, and United Spikers both of Mogadishu Cantonment will take part in the Volleyball Competition. Others are the Scorpion Spikers, and Mambilla Spikers both of Mambilla Barracks.
For Badminton, the participating clubs are Jet Badminton Club of NAF Base, Mogadishu Badminton Club of Mogadishu Cantonment, the Guards Badminton Club of Lungi Barracks, and the Yonex Badminton Club of Mambilla Barracks. The Grass Root Badminton of Lungi Barracks and Scorpion Club of Mambilla Barracks are also taking part in the game of volleyball.
