Nigeria Begins Search for World Youth Scrabble Championship Team
Oru LeonardÂ
Nigeria will this weekend begin the process of selecting its team for the 2026 World Youth Scrabble Championship as the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF) stages its national online qualifiers on the Woogles platform.
The two-day qualifying tournament, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, will see young scrabble players from across the country compete in monitored online matches for places in Nigeria’s squad for the global championship in Nairobi, Kenya.
National Youth Coach, Hassan Olojoku Abdulrafiu, said the exercise is aimed at identifying the country’s best young talents, with the top four players earning places in the team event. He added that National Technical Director, Adedeji Khaleel, will provide the competition guidelines before the qualifiers commence.
Abdulrafiu urged all eligible players to become familiar with the Woogles platform ahead of the competition and called on coaches and chaperones to ensure participants enjoy a stable and distraction-free playing environment throughout the online tournament.
Besides the four team-event qualifiers, Nigeria is also expected to field two Under-10 players at the championship. With four young contenders battling for the available slots, competition is expected to be intense.
The youth coach also appealed to coaches to remain actively involved in sourcing sponsorship for the team’s participation, noting that the federation would regularly seek updates on funding arrangements ahead of the trip.
Nigeria enters the qualifiers buoyed by its outstanding performance at the last World Youth Scrabble Championship in Malaysia, where Abdulqodus Aliou narrowly missed winning the overall title, while Sophia Ekeruche was crowned the tournament’s Best Female Player.
The 2026 World Youth Scrabble Championship is scheduled to hold from August 7 to 9 at the Trademark Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, with Nigeria hoping to build on its recent international achievements.
Cover Photo: Sophia Ekeruche
Credit: Maxwell Kumoye
