Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games, organized by Bangladesh Olympic Association, is all set to get rolled across the country at upazila level from the first week of next month, some five years after the first edition of youth games was held in 2018.

The athletes aged under-17 will first compete at the upazila level from January 2-10 before moving onto the inter-district competitions, slated for January 16 to 22. The final phase of the competition will take place in Dhaka from Feb 26 to March 4.

"A total of 24 disciplines have been included in the Youth Games with rugby, cycling, and squash being included for the first time," Ashiqur Rahman Miku, deputy general secretary of BOA and member secretary of Youth Games steering committee, told The Daily Star today.

"We are hoping 80 per cent of upazila across the country will be taking part in the Games, which will allow each district to take part in eight disciplines out of 24, including two team events," said Miku. 

"We have taken such a decision to allow each district for eight disciplines because all disciplines are not being practiced in every district, so we want to inspire the district to participate in potential disciplines in their respective districts."

Top two athletes from upazila level will advance to the district-level competition with each of champion and runner-up receiving Tk 1500 and Tk 1000, respectively, as the medals and crest for the recognition will be given out during the final phase competition, where more than 3000 athletes are expected to take part.

Bangladesh Olympic Association placed an estimated budget of Tk 40 crores, around Tk 20 crore more than the first edition's budget, to the government which however had allocated only Tk 2 crore so far.