Dappa wants Sports Institute, Isaka Revamped

A grassroots sports exponent in Rivers State, Prince Iyalla Ibifaa Dappa has called for the resuscitation of the Rivers State Sports Institute, Isaka, as the once impressive institution is now a shadow of itself

According to Dappa, the institute was a haven for blending of academic and sports development in the state and beyond towards nurturing talents for future.

Making the call in a chat with Tidesports yesterday, Dappa, who is also the president of Garden City All Stars Football Club, said that the rot at Isaka should be arrested without further delay.

He explained that the institute which was modeled after the Western sporting philosophy where sports men and women are discovered and natured in line with their sporting interest, and still given commensurate educational opportunities like their peers who are not sports inclined.

The Prince continued that this approach which is more fashionable in Europe and America is aimed at making the youths more relevant in the scheme of things, even when they retire from active sports.

In his words; “The Sports Institute at Isaka is a ground for catching them young, building them up in other to meet with the challenges of the sporting world because the structure is usally designed to brush up the athletes sportswise and educationally, to a level that even when they are done with the physical game, they can still find themselves useful in the society, sometimes as sports administrators.

Dappa further maintained that sporting institutions in the mould of Isaka Sports Institute should be established in all the local government headquarters in the state and beyond, adding that the approach if adopted would give ample opportunities to talented youths in the rural areas, who may have so much to offer the father land, but are usually deniel the chance due to lack of facilities.

He also reiterated that the Rivers youths are expected to perform well in such sprts like wrestling and swimming. He stated that these sports are part of the Rivers culture, and noted that the establishment of more sports complex and the resuscitating of the Isaka Sports Institute would bring life to the core traditional sports in the state.

He thus added that the poor performance in the areas of swimming and wrestling by Rivers youths in particular could be attributed to low level of interest and poor managerial prowess on the part of the administrators.