Coach Tasks AFN On Early Preparations

Worried by the spate
of visa denials to athletes for international championships, a coach has urged the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) to initiate moves to secure visas for junior championships.
A Hurdles and Horizontal Jumps Coach, Stephen Soetan, who spoke with newsmen in Lagos, advised the AFN to be proactive in its preparation of athletes.
He spoke against the backdrop of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World U-20 Championships scheduled for July 19 to July 24 in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Soetan said that AFN should not allow the incident that happened to the senior athletes to re-occur.
“The athletes that went to Durban, South Africa for the Senior Athletics meet did not perform well because of inadequate preparation.
“These junior athletes should at least be allowed prepare well and get to Poland early,’’ he said.
He also advised the athletes to remain focused, adding that their commitment would showcase them to the world.
“The athletes that went to Durban should have been camped for at least a week in that country but we heard that there was no fund.
“The athletes should, however, not allow the paucity of funds to disturb them from giving in their best.
“The AFN should also endeavour to put the junior athletes for the competition in camp even if it is for a week,’’ he said.
Soetan also said that young athletes who have been at the High Performance Centre (HPC) in Port Harcourt since 2015 should have been engaged in international competitions.
“It is not enough to engage young athletes in local competitions after training at the centre. They should have been exposed to international competitions,’’ he said.
Tidesports reports that Divine Oduduru’s 200m silver medal was the only medal won by Nigeria at the 2014 edition which held in Eugene, U.S.