Lagos – Kazeem Bamidele, a taekwondo coach, on Saturday called for cordial relationship between the athletes and officials during training.
Bamidele, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said that this would enable the athletes and officials to make progress.
“Athletes should be able to relate freely with their coaches so that they can be able to express themselves in areas where they are having challenges without threats.
”Also, there is need for coaches to understudy each athlete under their supervision and identify his or her areas of deficiency during training.
“There is more to the training of athletes; everything should not begin and end with the programmes spelt out in the training activities, there must be cordial relationship.
“It is a secret of recording progress, especially where an athlete has participated in some championships without winning a medal.
”A coach must device such approach as a therapy,’’ he said.
Bamidele said that this had contributed to the success of some taekwondo athletes under his supervision in some major national championships.
“We relate like brothers and sisters, they sometimes confide in me and I offer necessary advice or assistance, depending on the issue as at that time.
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“I go the extra mile just to ensure that they are thoroughly acquainted with areas that pose problem during regular training and ginger their morale too,’’ the coach said.
He, however, advised athletes to remain focused, maintain discipline, and respect their coaches. (NAN)
