LAGOS – The Head Coach of the Kickboxing Federation of Nigeria (KBFN), Cletus Okagbue, on Wednesday in Lagos called on authorities to ensure early preparation of athletes for the All Africa Games (AAG).
Okagbue told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that precedence should be on holding comprehensive refreshers course for technical officials saddled with the responsibility of training athletes.
The 11th edition of AAG would hold from Sept. 4 to Sept. 19 in Brazzaville, Congo.
The coach said that some technical officials could not afford to sponsor their trips abroad to attend refresher courses, and that it would be economic to invite an expert to Nigeria.
“When an expert comes here, it will provide an enabling environment for a large number of our technical officials to upgrade their training skills.’’
He said that taking such step would help to curb the issue of fire brigade approach recorded in previous international tournaments which according to him, affects athletes’ performance.
“Experience has confirmed that late preparations does note yield positive result, so based on that, authorities must begin to make necessary arrangement toward the games.
“Emphasis should be on upgrading the technical crew by probably inviting experts from abroad to pilot a refreshers course so that we can be conversant with latest rules.
“ It is the knowledge that we acquire from the experts that will guide us to prepare comprehensive programmes to prepare athletes for the competition,’’ he said.
The coach also emphasised the importance of training tours, stressing that it would give athletes the required exposure to modern facilities and increase their winning chances. (NAN)