Sports

Olympic Games: Putting Nigeria On Road To Redemption

Published

12 years ago

August 20, 2012

Contd from Friday

IMPLEMENTING THE STRATEGY

That is the objective.

To achieve it requires a two-pronged strategy: the first, a
short-term, top-down approach and the second a long-term, bottom-up approach.

In the short term, current elite athletes like Okagbare,
Chika Chukwumerije and the very improved basketball team for instance will get
funding and assistance to maintain and improve on their current performance
levels.

Where they drop below acceptable standards, they lose their
elite status and their funding shifted elsewhere.

But the nuts and bolts of this whole programme will be based
on the long term strategy.

That is where, again, the minister has it spot on. A
structured, sustained, year-round calendar of sporting activities for schools
from primary through secondary and all the way to university level is the key.

In the USA, there is a working template to be borrowed and
tweaked to suit our circumstances.

In a country of arguably 150 million people, it is hard to
fathom that there are no talents capable of being nurtured into world-class
athletes.

These talents must be identified at that young age through
school sports, helped along the way to developing that talent with structured,
world-class training, proper funding and continued assistance and monitoring of
their development every step of the way.

Progress must be measured at regular intervals with key
objectives set and met every step of the way.

Long term, a world-class sports training facility must be
built within the country.

To assure maintenance, such a facility is best built, owned
and operated privately, and rented out, clad in impenetrable cast-iron
contract, at break-even costs to the NSC or sporting federations.

In the short to medium term, however, these athletes should
be sent on scholarships to countries where their particular sport has the best
personnel and equipment.

The USA, China and Russia come to mind.

DEVELOP A WINNING MENTALITY

After the women’s 100m final, word went around that
Nigerians should draw consolation from having Okagbare as the eighth fastest
woman in the world.

The insane absurdity of that statement absolutely defies
comprehension.

But that is the sort of defeatist mentality with which we
roll at the moment.

To understand the attitude that wins medals, one has to read
former athlete Enefiok Udo-Obong’s book ‘The Silver Lining’, then go back and
watch him race at Sydney 2000.

The book chronicles Udo-Obong’s focused fixation on athletic
and academic success, even as a strapping young kid.

In Sydney, Udo-Obong was handed the baton in the final lap
of the 4x400m relay with four runners ahead of him.

He could have given up, just run to fulfil all
righteousness. Instead, an asthmatic young man, determined to win, conjured up
every last iota of strength to make a push for gold.

Watch the last few seconds of that relay.

See how Udo-Obong strained every last sinew, stretched every
last muscle, and nearly exploded his heart in a lung-bursting sprint to the
tape

By the 200m mark he had overtaken two runners. On the home
stretch, he had whistled past a third.

The whole country was screaming, running with him by the
time he dipped his head just behind the American, who won gold.

I still get goose-bumps reliving that race.

Now, 12 years on, that silver has turned to gold, because
one of the Americans was caught using drugs, and the team disqualified.

That is the reward for a winning mentality. That video needs
to be shown in schools, to young aspiring athletes all over the country

And Udo-Obong himself should be invited to give motivational
speeches to these kids.

That is how to build winners.

POTENTIAL ROADBLOCKS AND PITFALLS

However much anyone wants to believe in the opposite, none
of these will happen without opposition.

The ministry, and the federations are populated with people
who benefit from this broken system.

These people will fight their hardest, in every single
sneaky, backstabbing way to derail any plan to fix the rot and deny them the
benefits of their gravy train.

It is the reason why a house clearing must happen before any
of this can work.

Too many people have been there too many decades and know no
other way to do things.

Some are so backward email sounds like Greek to them.
Operating a database or other digital systems will probably lead to cardiac
arrests.

Keeping them will stymie, even kill the process.

They have to go. Minister Abdullahi MUST embark on
house-cleaning. It is the only way to make a fresh start.

PROJECTION

Results may not show at the next Olympics. He would be
foolish who would expect it to.

Whatever successes, if any, are recorded at Rio 2016 should
be considered a bonus. The real, realistic target should be 2020.

There is never a better time to start than the present.
Otherwise, four years from now, we will return to this same finish line,
wondering why we finished last.

Again.

Concluded

Udoh writes for KickoffNigeri.Com

Colin Udoh

Sports

Expert Wants Parents To Enroll Children In Vector Programme

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

In a bid to have more young talented Nigerians to play professional football abroad, Johnny Ogbah, a sports lawyer and football intermediary, has called on parents to enroll their children in Vector Programme.
He stated that the programme is in conjunction with Conventry Football Club in United Kingdom (UK), saying that the programme includes academics where a child can acquire a degree.
Ogbah, made the call while addressing sports journalists recently in Port Harcourt, as the programme will admit students into Brooke College between the age of 11 and 18 Football Academy.
The major objective of Vector Programme is to give the young ones a career through sports and good education. The programme does not train people on football only but also other things that is related to sporting environment, he said.
According to him, more than 20 Nigerians have benefited from the programme on scholarship and most of them are now playing football in top clubs in Europe.
“Vector programme was poised to create an avenue to give people to play football to the highest level.
Apart from football the child can also have quality education. It will interest you to know that those in Vector programme play friendly games that attracts scouts from different countries and football clubs.
The programme doesn’t train you on only football but also train people on everything that is associated to sports”, Ogbah said.
The former Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) player further disclosed Vector programme pathways provides the practice opportunities that players need if they are to successfully graduate as a professional player.

By: Tonye Orabere

Sports

NLO: Khana FC Coach Blames Players For Missing Chances

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

The Head Coach of Khana FC in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Sam Ledor, has blamed his players as they were unable to convert scoring chances.
According to him, if those chances created in their opening match against Jet Bomber FC at the ongoing Nation wide League One (NLO), in Omoku centre were converted, it would have given them victory.
Ledor, said this on Saturday in a chat with Tidesports shortly after they played goalless draw against Jet Bomber FC in their opening match in 2024 NLO Division in Omoku, Rivers State.
“ We created a lot of scoring chances but could not find the net”, he said.
He explained that playing goalless draw is not a bad result in football but in a competition like this, they need to score goals and win matches.
“ My brother, we missed a lot of scoring chances which is not good. I trainned my players on how to create chances and to convert them.
“ What is important in a competition is winning but as we did not lose the game, we will look forward for our next game.
“We will go back to the drawing board and correct the grey areas in our game and ensure we get better results in our next outing.
“Today’s game is gone, what we need to do is to make sure we win our next game,” he stated.
He pointed out that no game comes easy but the effort you put in will give good result. They tried their best today and the result was good for both teams but we need to win our next game.
“My opponents were also a good side; they tried all what they could but didn’t score also. It was a good game but my team needs to win games,” he added.

By: Kiadum Edookor

Sports

Wilkins Backs Rivers Hoopers To Spring Surprises At 2024 BAL

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

A French-American, John Walter Wilkins is confident Rivers Hoopers can make it to the playoff round of the 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Wilkins, who is the son of former NBA player Jeff Wilkins, linked up with his Hoopers teammates at the team’s training camp in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, ahead of the 2024 BAL Savannah Conference games, which tip off on Saturday, 4th May, 2024, in Dakar, Senegal.
Wilkins is no stranger to African basketball, having played for Moroccan sides AS Salé (2015-2016) and Ittihad Tanger (2017-2019), before leading Stade Malien to a third-place finish at BAL 2023.
Looking ahead to the 2024 BAL, Wilkins says the quality of basketball across Africa has improved, with the BAL requiring a high level of competitiveness, but backed Rivers Hoopers to spring a surprise at the tournament.
“It’s a really high level, a great competition; [it’s] one of the best I’ve played in since I’ve been in Africa. But we don’t need to be scared. We need to just attack the moment, be there, be present, and I think if we are confident in our abilities, we can surprise people,” he said.
Since its inaugural season in 2021, Nigerian teams have appeared twice at the BAL, with Rivers Hoopers playing in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2021 and Kwara Falcons featuring at BAL 2023.
Despite failing to reach the playoffs on both previous occasions, Wilkins is optimistic that with the quality of players in the Hoopers squad as well as the recruitment done ahead of the BAL, Rivers Hoopers will be more competitive in this season’s BAL.
“I’m really optimistic. I know that those past years the teams from Nigeria didn’t do well, but I think with me, Kelvin [Amayo], Will [Perry], and the other guys, I think we can show the way, have some wins, and be more competitive,” he stated.
The Nigerian Champions were drawn in the Savannah Conference alongside former BAL Champions US Monastir (Tunisia), last year’s runners-up AS Douanes (Senegal), and APR (Rwanda).