RSKA Begins Preparations For 19th NSF

The Rivers State Karate Association (RSKA) has disclosed that it would commence preparations for the 19th National Sports Festival scheduled to hold April next year in Calabar, this month.

The Chief Coach of Karate in the State, Leader Yacob K.O Emelie, made this disclosure recently during an exclusive chat with Tidesports at the Alfred Diette Spiff Sports complex, Port Harcourt.

According to him, the association would want to prepare in good time in order to strive to maintain the position it won at the “Garden City Games 2011”. He added that they were determined to sustain the glory at the forthcoming National Sports festival.

“To ensure that we achieve our target at the 19th NSF Games, we are going to pick Potential Karatekas to form a new team for the 2014 Sports fiesta”, he said.

Emelie called on Karate Club Instructors in the State to sustain discipline in the sport, expressing disappointment that most Karate Clubs are at their poor technical standard.

He noted that martial arts in general is slowly  losing ground because of money as many club instructors are induced to issue belt ranks any how to their members.

The Chief Coach noted that many club instructors lack sound technical training and discipline,  saying that in the state team, athletes were expected to be committed and exhibit discipline at all times, and that no form of indiscipline and unruly behaviour would be condone this year.

It would be recalled that the State Karate association did not participate at the “Eko 2012” Games because the sport was excluded from the festival. Team Rivers’ Karateran have always been out standing in the sport.