Sports
‘Poor Welfare, Bane Of Badminton In Lagos’
An official of the Lagos State Badminton Association, Benjamin Orkpo, has blamed the exodus of badminton players from the state on poor welfare.
Orkpo, the head coach of the association, told newsmen in Lagos, that the state had dominated the sport for almost two decades, before it started to decline.
He said that most of the players left Lagos to develop the sport in their states of origin as they were offered employment by their State Governments.
The official said, however, that Lagos State had continued to rise again with the employment of talented players and coaches by the Lagos State Sports Council.
“Some players had to go back to their states to develop the sport and some of the states were offering them employment.
“But the situation has also improved now, because Lagos State has also started to offer employment to the players.
“The state has started paying their athletes and also offering them employment. These incentives are now holding back some players while those players outside the state are even coming back.”
He said that the players’ performances at the National Badminton Championships, scheduled for July 15 to July 20 in Ilorin, Kwara, would determine the state’s chances at the National Sports Festival.
“We have four to five months to prepare for the forthcoming Sports Festival. I am not in the right position now to say I will win 20 gold medals in the sport.
“We have a competition in Ilorin, by the time we assess other teams outside Lagos State, I will be able to determine the number of medals to be won.
“But for now, we are still preparing, and the athletes are adjusting to training,” the badminton head coach said.
Orkpo cited inadequate training facilities as a major problem facing development of sports, especially badminton in Lagos State.
“When we were in schools, primary and secondary school were provided with playing ground, but now, we don’t have playing grounds in schools.
“Almost all the play grounds have been occupied by classrooms blocks. You hardly see athletes from Ikorodu or Iyana Ipaja to come and train in Rowe Park.
“Most of the athletes that train in Rowe Park are those that live in the vicinity,” Orkpo said.
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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