NIS Director Lists Ways To Achieve Sports Development Goals

Director of the Department of Coaching and Training , National Institute for Sports (NIS), Dr. Adeniji Jimmy, has said that Nigeria must employ different psychological interventions to ensure podium success and sustainable sports development.
Speaking at the institute’s first inaugural lecture at National Stadium, Lagos, Jimmy picked sports psychology as the panacea to athletes’ optimal performance that would lead to national development.
He noted that Nigeria’s sports suffer from many inadequacies that hinder podium levels at competitions, adding that the solution lies on urgent psychological interventions.
He also advised that sports psychologists should be part of athletes’ preparations, lamenting that this angle is yet to be fully harnessed in the country’s sports.
Jimmy, who said the current NIS leadership aims at showcasing and repositioning the institute as a citadel of learning, a training and research centre, as well as to key into the university and polytechnic systems.
In his lecture, titled, “Podium Success and Sustainable Sports Development in Nigeria: A Tripod of Psychological Interventions”, Jimmy said sports have gone beyond recreational and entertainment levels, adding that sports psychology must be included in team building, preparation before, during and after competition as its importance is many and varied.