Sports

YOG: Beach Volleyballers’ Form Inspires Coach

Published

10 years ago

August 4, 2014

Coach Chakuma Ismail of
the national under-17 male and female beach volleyball team last week in Abuja said his players looked promising ahead of the    2014 Youth Olympics Games (YOG).
Ismail told newsmen after the teams’ morning training session at the Jabi Lake, that the situation in camp was encouraging.
He said this submission was because the players were responding well to training.
“This is the second day in camp and the situation is good, because we have good accommodation and feeding. Most of the players also turned up on time.           “But I believe it would have been better if the remaining two players were   here to increase competition for places in the final squad.
“All the same, the players are young and they look promising. This is because, with the little time we have had since yesterday (Wednesday) when we started training, they have proven to be committed,” the coach said.
The teams are    preparing the second edition of the YOG scheduled to hold at Nanjing in China from August 16   to August 28.   Ismail had invited eight players to camp, four male and four female, to fight for two shirts each in each of the two categories.
The male players are Morris Samuel, Obayemi Ogunshina, Peter Ibrahim and Akande Philip, while the female players are Hajara Audu, Jummai Bitrus, Tochukwu Nnorgu and Francisca Ikedia.
As at the second day of training on Thursday, all the male players were in camp, with only Bitrus and Ikedia yet to report.
Ismail said the camping should have commenced earlier    to allow for good preparations towards the Games.
“The camping did not start early enough, because we will now be having just 10 to 11 days and it is not enough to prepare a team for the Olympics. It should have commenced earlier than this.
“The days of quality training which we will now have are just eight days. But because the players are young and committed, the training will have to be combined now.
“We will have to combine the physical and technical training, because we can’t set some days aside for specific tasks. There is no time for that.
“If we were to follow it as it ought to be, we will be leaving for the YOG without full preparations,” he said.
Ismail, however, decried the teams’ inability to participate in the Federal of International Volleyball (FIVB) U-17 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Mexico earlier this month.
“I thought the World Championships in Mexico would have been a good opportunity to evaluate the players, but it is unfortunate that we were not able to go.
“Personally as the coach, it has affected me. But I have to encourage the players, because I am a father.
“The players felt it and they were all in tears, because they felt they should have gone there and learn more skills.
“Also, that would have given us an opportunity to know where and where to work on now.
“This is because most of the teams at Mexico will be at the YOG. So, if our teams were to be there, we would have known the strengths and weaknesses of the teams we will meet.
“But now we are going there blindly. Had it been that we were there, the players would have been in different shape now.
“But I am still working on their psychology to prepare them for the Games,” Ismail told NAN.
Both teams were supposed to represent Nigeria at the FIVB U-17 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Mexico but had hitches in their travel arrangement.
Nigeria is one of the 204 countries scheduled to participate at YOG, with beach volleyball being one of the 28 sports to be competed for by the athletes.

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).