Lagos – An Ogun Athletics Coach Ibrahim Showunmi, on Friday called on the state government to involve technical officials and athletes’ representatives of various sports in planning for the 19th National Sports Festival (NSF).
The festival which has suffered several postponements will now hold in Calabar, the Cross River capital from Nov. 7 to Nov. 23.
Showunmi made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said that rubbing minds with practitioners on the National Sports Festival would ensure adequate preparation and enhance the state’s performance on the competition’s overall log.
He said the authorities ought to hear directly from the practitioners’ about areas that they were having challenges which call for attention and for the state to give them a target.
“Training has being regular even before the official declaration of the festival date, however, it is necessary for the governor to have discussion with us so that we can make our problems known.
“I am also sure that the governor will give us a target as he wants us to improve on our previous performances at this year’s festival.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
“But it is only through this kind of forum that we can face reality, wake up to our responsibilities and work effectively to achieve the common goal.
“The truth is that behind every success, there is good planning which must also be done early enough in order to reduce and control unexpected lapses,’’ the coach said.
Showunmi recommended that competitions at various levels within the state must be executed to give chance for competent athletes to prove their skills and identified ahead of state trials.
“These competitions will be used to select athletes who will undergo series of trials before making the final list of the qualified ones to be invited for camp.
“The assessment will be based on current form for home and foreign based, good a thing most of our home-based athletes are in top form and willing,’’ he said.
According to him, the festival which has been made open requires the state to come up with a formidable teams for the event.
NAN reports that Ogun State participated at the 18th NSF hosted by the Lagos State government in 2012 and finished 7th. (NAN)
