Sports
…Enugu Athletes Skip Training
Following the removal of fuel subsidy, athletes in Enugu have complained that the increase in transport fares has affected their training routine.
Some of the said at the weekend that they could no longer meet up the early morning training sessions from their various homes to the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium due to the increase.
Blaze Udeh, the Enugu State Boxing Chief Coach, said: “The situation has affected my athletes because some of them come from far places.
“It affects the exercise generally because you reserve the one you can use to come training in the evening, you don’t have enough and you can’t trek from where you are living.
“Except you are living nearer to the stadium that you can trek, but if you not living nearer, If can’t trek, if you trek what will you eat after everything, that is the problem. So, we are pleading to overnment to do something about it.”
Franklin Ekwereike, the state taekwondo assistant coach, said very few athletes still had the ability to come for regular training.
“Because of the transport problem some could not find their way to the stadium. Some of them that have bike could not afford to the price of fuel now.
“Invariably it is affecting the training because almost in all the departments of the game you see one or two persons which cannot make them train well because the number is not complete.”
Also reacting, Uchenna Eziokwu, a senior coach with the state ministry of youth and sports, said he trekked from Abakpa Nike, a satellite town to Enugu to meet up with the morning training.
“I cannot pay N200 transport to and fro the stadium. It is really a difficult situation. I believe it is the same to the few athletes here.
“Government should urgently do something because sports is all about movement from one place to another.”
Christian Chukwu, a boxer, said: “I was the only person who came for training this morning. My contemporaries could not make it because they cannot afford the transport fare.’’
Very few sports men and women trained in the stadium at the weekend unlike in the past when the place brimmed over with athletes.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.
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