The First-Ever Drone Soccer Competition in Africa - Impact at its Best!

By Patrick Ashu and Jonty Slater, Blue Globe Innovation

The first-ever Drone Soccer Competition in Africa was a robust human capital development project, consisting of capacity building, maximum inclusion and fiercely competitive games. The Competition engaged five hundred students and fifty teachers from secondary schools across Lagos State District 1. The Finals took place on 5 February 2022 at the Government Senior College, Agege, Lagos, Nigeria. The Competition was organised through a partnership between the U.S. Mission to Nigeria, The Lagos State Ministry of Education, the United States Drone Soccer Association, and Blue Globe Innovation.

“This drone initiative is a part of the STEAMUP Lagos project which was birthed by the desire for us to make sure that our students are future-ready and are able to compete globally.” - Adetola Salau, Senior Special Assistant on Education for Lagos State

A team of engineers quickly fixing a drone during the final competition games.

“We’re really focusing on youth because we really want to ignite that interest at a young level and also in any underserved school districts where students may not always have access and that’s why we chose District 1…” - Stephen Ibelli, Public Affairs Officer, United States Consulate General, Lagos, Nigeria.

The resulting Competition was nothing short of its intended aim, providing innovative learning experiences to empower and inspire Nigerian youth, especially girls, to pursue careers in STEM. During the competition, the students were trained in drone technology, solar panel assembly, weather balloon technology, artificial intelligence, cell phone & laptop repair, and coding. The event also built the capacity of participating teachers, equipping them with the requisite knowledge to train young students in STEM.

“The programme has consisted of drone training, solar cell assembly, using weather balloons and also cell phone and laptop repair, giving them skills, skills that are needed for the future of work, skills that are needed to make sure [they’re] able to work with people all across the world. Their teachers have also been given the capacity to be able to work and guide and become more effective facilitators.” - Adetola Salau, Senior Special Assistant on Education for Lagos State.

Participants during a practical training session on drone building and programming.

“Teamwork! We worked together and that was what made us outstanding. We’re very very excited, during the course of our training we’ve been trying very hard and we’re very happy that all our hard work is not in vain.” - Esther Adegunloye, Member of the Pacesetters Team.

The event was an amazing opportunity to witness all eight teams (all led by female students) competing with passion. The Pacesetters Team, of the Ijaiye Housing Estate Senior Grammar School, emerged as the winners! The finals included representatives from the various partners, as well as a full house of local and international media teams such as SuperSport, Arise TV, HipTV, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Lagos Television (LTV), and Brila FM.

Pacesetters team members celebrating with a parent and coach.

It was impressive seeing the students build, programme, fix, and fly the drone soccer balls. The teams engaged in intense rounds of matches where team members had to employ teamwork and sportsmanship in the process.?

“...You see the interest today, you see the faces of these kids who are competing, you see the excitement, you see the enthusiasm, and really that’s what it’s all about - science is exciting.” - Stephen Ibelli, Public Affairs Officer, United States Consulate General, Lagos, Nigeria.

Folasade Adefisayo, Commissioner of Education, Lagos State (L) and Aisha Agbaje, SSA Development, Partnership & Economic Planning, Lagos State (R) during the final game of the competition.

Egbewunmi Sanjo, one of the participants of the Alpha Team from Abesan Senior Highschool, was trained and participated as a programmer and team defender. He showed appreciation for the partners of the competition, stating that he had no knowledge about drone soccer and had never participated in any drone-related activity before, but the competition has taught him teamwork, collaboration, and more. He also appreciated several aspects of the competition’s activities, such as the efficient weekend training, the pre-match games and the final competition games.

Furthermore, the Competition prioritised the inclusion of girls in STEM, allowing a female student to lead each team.?

A participant receives her branded shirt for the final games of the Drone Soccer Competition.

“I’m very happy because we have been looking forward to this day, we assembled the drones from the scratch, how to repair [drones] [and] we selected the players, some are engineers, some are battery chargers, we have strikers, we have the defenders, but the keyword is patience and teamwork. A big thank you to the Lagos State Government for allowing us to showcase our talents and the US Consulate for sponsoring the programme.” - Wale Oleyeke, Coach for Pacesetters Team, Ijaiye Housing Estate Senior Grammar School.

It is without a doubt that drone soccer competitions will storm the global education system, with its potential to drive STEM across schools and attract young people to embrace science, technology and innovation. The impact seen from Agege in Lagos State District 1 can be easily replicated across Lagos, Nigeria, and Africa at large, thus attracting and building the human capital of the future generations, which is empirical for socioeconomic development of the African continent.

The stage for the final games of the first ever drone soccer competition in Africa.

“This is like a gateway to the broader participation of all districts and schools, and with what I’ve seen here, it’s going to be embraced by all the districts and all our schools.” -Abayomi Abolaji, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Education.

From the major wins and practical application of Africa’s first-ever Drone Soccer Competition, it is necessary that local, state and regional governments, as well as other key actors driving societal and economic development across Africa, identify and support early-stage human capital development through interesting tech-driven programmes such as this.?

“We are happy that our District, our schools, and our students are the first set of people to have the benefit of partnering with them, and having contact with this kind of programme is a great privilege indeed and we’re happy about it.” - Margaret Solarin, TG/PS Education District 1, Lagos State.

Participating teams, officials and partners of the African Drone Soccer Challenge.

Want to learn more about Blue Globe's work with drones and across Africa? Visit theblueglobe.com or get in touch with us on LinkedIn.