Champs City in the Community: The University of Nigeria, Nsukka Experience

Champs City took its physical and mental health and social wellbeing initiative to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, with another edition of GETFIT WITH CHAMPS on 22 August 2026.

The event brought together students, staff and members of the surrounding community for a morning of fitness, fun, and meaningful conversations and engagements.

Activities included fitness drills, music and dance, fitness challenges, free mental health consultations and a lucky dip.

Students and staff participated actively. The atmosphere was generally open, friendly and energetic.

For some participants, it was an opportunity to begin or renew their commitment to healthy living. For others, it was the start of a fitness and wellness journey. New friendships were also formed.

A key part of the event was mental health awareness and free consultations provided by Psychologists from the Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Through this engagement, GETFIT WITH CHAMPS continues to create opportunities for open conversations about mental health and to challenge the stigma that is often wrongly associated with it.

Forging Partnerships for Impact

Our partnership with the Department of Psychology is a natural fit because we believe that sport is as much a mental exercise as it is a physical one. Understanding the mind, how it works, and how it influences performance should therefore be central to how we train and develop our athletes at the Club. Therefore, a relationship with academics whose work focuses on how the mind works is important to us.

The event at UNN also created opportunities to connect with young people, university staff, students and business people within and around the community. It was such a great opportunity to build relationships, share positive experiences and make an impact.

“Without the partnerships we have with FirstBank and the Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, it would be more difficult for us to make the level of impact we are making,” said Odinaka Iloh, President of Champs City.

“In consonance with our vision to speak to humanity and inspire the world through sports, I have no doubt that we will continue to deepen that impact in the coming months and years as more partners come on board.

“In the future, when Champs City athletes become global stars, we believe they will lend their voices to this health and wellness movement. Also, we expect that they will help to raise the aspirations of young people and offer themselves as positive role models for many young people in our communities,” he says.

Speaking on the GETFIT WITH CHAMPS at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Professor John Eze, Head of the Department of Psychology, said:

“the event was very enriching both in interaction and cathartic effect. It also presented a new frontier in extracurricular modelling in UNN. The staff and students of Psychology at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and of course other participants, strongly cherished the event and look forward to a stronger and more involving collaboration with Champs City on the GETFIT WITH CHAMPS initiative”.

Participants’ Take

Speaking on the impact of the initiative, Dr T.K. Ogba of the Psychology Department said:

“The GETFIT WITH CHAMPS exercise we just had yesterday was powerfully engaging, fun-packed and socially unifying! It was also a brief period that had our body physically engaged while relaxing our brains. The incorporation of mental health awareness and free mental health consultation was the climax of it. A lot of people are already asking about the next time the programme will hold again here in UNN, an indication of interest due to its positive impacts. I hope in no distant time we’ll gather again for another GETFIT WITH CHAMPS in UNN.”

Temple Ibeanusi, who played a key role in the mobilisation of the university community for the event, was very thankful to Champs City for the vision to inspire the community through sports.

“The GETFIT WITH CHAMPS at the UNN Stadium was a moment of fun, education, and inspiration. People enjoyed themselves and also had free access to mental health consultations. I believe that if Champs City maintains this kind of programme consistently, they will go global,” said Temple Ibeanusi.

What’s next?

GETFIT WITH CHAMPS will continue its journey into more communities and, in time, into other states across Nigeria.

The goal is simple: to get more people in our communities moving, talking, connecting and taking better care of their physical and mental wellbeing.