Sports
NAF Opens Camp For Young Swimmers In IIorin
In preparation for the up coming National Youth Games in Ilorin later in September and Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, the National Aquatic Federation (NAF) says it has opened camp for young swimmers.
The Secretary General of NAF, Sanni Mohammed made the revelation in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
He said that the federation would stop at nothing to ensure that the swimmers, during the National Youth Games in Ilorin and Youth Olympic Games in Argentina, excel .
“The preparations towards the double games this year has started in earnest. One, for the National Youth Games in Ilorin in September and the other big games coming up in Argentina in November.
“We have to open the camp on time to allow the young swimmers have good preparations. Presently, we have 10 swimmers, five males and five females.
“This is a screening process because at the end of the exercise, we will drop one swimmer each which will leave us with four both males and females.
“Those that are in the camp now are those that are involved in the last swimming competition held last year and we are preparing them mostly for the Youth Olympic Games, he said.
Mohammed said that the young swimmers were camped in Abuja assuring that the young swimmers were the best presently in their age categories.
“We have the swimmers camped in Abuja right now and they are the best of them. We are approaching the games with the best we have right now and the training is going on fine.
“We have had it in mind to showcase some of the young swimmers from Ikoyi Club to the Olympic Games”, save the age differences, because they are not up to the required age.
“The age for the competition is 15 to 18 while the Ikoyi Club swimmers have on their passport age 13, so we cannot take them.
“Besides this, those in camp are up to the task of representing the country well during the games in Argentina, we are optimistic about their performance”, he said.
The championship will run from today to October 12 at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia. On the ground for the championship are athletes from Brazil, Peru, Egypt, Cameroon, Tunisia, Nigeria, Mauritius and Rwanda. They arrived on Sunday.
Some of the other countries were expected in the Abia State capital yesterday. Speaking on the championship, yesterday, Abia State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Nwobilor Ananaba, said the chief host, Governor Alex Otti, has mobilised facilities and the personnel to ensure a successful event.
Speaking through the Special Assistant to the Governor on Sports, Raymond Chima Ukwa, said: “We have the best mats, playing mats, especially the wheelchair playing mats, which is the first of its kind in West Africa.
“If you go around, you’ll see the hall and the preparation that has been made to ensure that people have an equitable world-class playing field.” Thrilled by Governor Otti’s support for the competition, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) President, Francis Orbih, said that, besides making all the necessary arrangements that will ensure a successful hosting of the events, “we will have a Para-Badminton workshop for coaches and players.
“Nigeria is doing well, Abia is doing well, and we want to do better to improve on where we are, which is why all these have been put together by Governor Otti.”
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles began their campaign at the 24th FIFA U20 World Cup with a narrow 1–0 loss to Norway on Monday, despite creating several opportunities to level the game.
Norway took the lead in the 9th minute after being awarded a controversial penalty. The Flying Eagles pressed for an equaliser but were denied two penalty claims in the second half.
Kparobo Arierhi came close in the 47th minute when his shot drifted wide with the goalkeeper beaten, while Tahir Maigana struck the upright in the 63rd minute.
Nasiru Salihu’s rising effort in the 71st minute also went narrowly over the bar, drawing gasps from the crowd.
Seven minutes from time, Maigana again tested Norway with a long-range strike that went just wide as Nigeria continued to pile on the pressure.
Despite their dominance, the Flying Eagles could not find the breakthrough and now turn their attention to Thursday’s clash against Saudi Arabia in their second group match.
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