Sports
Foundation Upgrades Taekwondo Athletes
Nine taekwondo athletes
from the Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation (CCSF), were recently upgraded from white to yellow belt after they made distinctions in their grade test.
Two female and seven male athletes participated in the practical and theoretical test which saw the least person score 75 points, while the highest was 93 points.
The male athletes are Dickson Adoga, Peter Itiku, Precious Benson, Ebuka Diala, Ebuka Obodo, Daniel Ibrahim and Joseph Awolope, while the female athletes are Joy Ikpeamaeze and Bukola Ogunnusi.
Founder of the foundation Chika Chukwumerije, told newsmen that the athletes were gradually becoming world beaters.
“In my years of taekwondo experience, I have realised that the most challenging period in taekwondo lies in the white, yellow and blue belt stages.
“These stages are very key in the lives of any taekwondo athletes.
“Once you can get these first three belts right, you will definitely be a champion in the making.
“We did not use the curriculum that was in use in the past 40 years in the way we have trained them.
“This is because things are so fast now and so many things are put into one.
“What they learnt now is what those in brown or a red belt will learn, so we have simplified it to their level and we have exposed them to a wild range of techniques.
“In addition to this, we have added things that are not conventional like event management and language courses’’, Chukwumerije said.
Chukwumerije said the athletes were combining taekwondo with their education which he said was the foundation of the sport.
One of the graduates, Dickson Adoga, said that they were being trained to take over from the likes of Chukwumerije.
“We are champions in the making and Nigeria will not regret having athletes like us’’, he said.
Adoga emerged as the best graduating athlete after he amassed 93 points in test.
Certificates were presented to the nine athletes.
The Chairman of the FCT Taekwondo Association Tony Anafulu, and John Victor, were among the instructors and technical persons that assessed the athletes.
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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