Sports
Coach Canvasses Better Welfare For Athletes
A wrestling coach, Enekpedekumor Okporu in Lagos flayed what he called the neglect of athletes in other sports other than football.
Okporu told newsmen that amateur wrestling had suffered because of the long abandonment of the sport.
“Nobody cares about wrestling in the country and it extends to other sports except football although those other sports have been clinching medals for the country yet no appreciation,” he said.
Okporu, who won a gold medal at the 1991 All Africa Games, said no allowance had been paid the wrestlers currently in camp in Bayelsa.
The Bayelsa wrestling coach said the athletes were training for the World Senior Wrestling Championships scheduled for September 9 to September 19 in Istanbul, Turkey.
“We have been in camp for two weeks now yet the wrestlers have not got their allowance which is not good for sports development.
“Not minding that we are struggling to prepare for the qualification process for the London 2012 Olympics, yet the training facilities in the camp are inadequate and poor.
“For a long time now, we have been managing and are used to managing while improvising and that is how we have been coping in camp,” Okporu said.
Segun Akinlotan, Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) Secretary, said the team would depart for the championships on September 11.
Akinlotan said that the competition would be preceded by the congress slated for September 10 while arrival had been fixed for September 9.
“We have decided to depart for Istanbul on September 11 because from our experience from previous championships one finds it difficult to train while in the venue of the event.
“Thus our departure has been slated for September 11 while our first event in Greco-Roman comes up on September 13,’’ Akinlotan said.
He said that five wrestlers and three officials would go for the competition which would serve as one of the qualifiers for the 2012 Olympics in London.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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