18th NSF: Rivers Ready To Win Again –Coach

The Rivers State’s Athletics Coach, Kareem Ogidan, has said that the State Sports Council had prepared its athletes to successfully defend their title at the 17th edition of the competition in Port Harcourt in 2011.

Ogidan said that Team Rivers would be going to the 18th National Sports Festival in Lagos battle-ready to win laurels and to defend its 2011 victory.

The festival, tagged “Eko 2012,’’ will hold from November 27 to December 9.

NAN reports that Team Rivers won the 17th edition of the NSF in 2011 with 135 gold, 79 silver and 85 bronze medals.

“Eko is ready, but Rivers is set to win again,’ is a popular slogan in our camps.

“We are poised to defend our title because all our athletes are the very best and will be up to the task of delivering medals to us, once again,’’ he said.

According to Ogidan, the Rivers State Government has done a lot in terms of facilities and financial encouragement to motivate both the athletes and officials to victory at the Lagos fiesta.

“Our dream of consolidating on our 2011 victory is visible because all the state athletes and officials are well-catered for in terms of facilities and finance.

“We are financially motivated and we cannot afford to do less than what we did last year,’’ he said.

Ogidan, who is running an athletics course at the National Institute for Sports in Lagos, lauded the state government for employing suitably qualified technical officials to prepare its athletes.

He said that sports officials and athletes from Rivers would do their best to maintain their lead on the medals table at the biennial Games.

The coach added that Team Rivers, who are undergoing serious training in preparation for the event, would arrive in Lagos on November 25.