By Nicholas Obisike
Enugu – Ikechukwu Okoronkwo, Technical Team Leader of ongoing Enugu State House of Assembly Boxing Talent-Hunt, says 20 talented boxers have been discovered at the Enugu East Centre One of the event.
Okoronkwo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Tuesday, that the 20 boxers were from the Annunciation Secondary School in Nkwo Nike.
He said the school was the Centre One in Enugu East and the selection process, which would go round all the 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state, began there.
“We have started the selection of young and talented boxers for the grand finals that will be staged at the indoor sports hall of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium.
“But, right now, training is ongoing at the 17 LGAs and selection will be done in all the centres,’’ the official said.
The former welterweight boxing champion said the boxing talent-hunt event was being sponsored by the Enugu State House of Assembly in recognition of the Speaker, Edward Ubosi.
He said while it was not the first time of such by the State House of Assembly, the present talent-hunt event appeared to be on the right course.
Okoronkwo said this was because the organisers have extended the event to the schools and communities.
“We want to discover and groom talented boxers who will represent the country in boxing competitions for years to come,’’ he said.
Speaking also, Annunciation Secondary School’s Principal, Gloria Afamefuna, urged the students to be their good ambassadors anywhere they found themselves through boxing.
“This is real grassroots talent discovery as we cannot boast of energetic individuals at the primary school level as it used to be years back.
“But we thank God we are among the schools participating in this talent-hunt and it gives me joy that we were able to produce 20 boxers,’’ she said.
NAN reports that the talent-hunt is now in its second phase, which was the training of the boxers at the different centres from the 17 LGAs.
The talent-hunt programme is being supervised by the Chairman of the House Committee on Youths and Sports.