EDITORIAL: NIGERIA SPORTS- A CLOSER LOOK AT ATHLETICS

By Georgia Johnny

              Gone are the days when people paid so much attention to athletics tourneys, like the Olympics and the World Championships. People paid so much attention because there was always a Nigerian to look forward to. Both the male and female relay teams were always a joy to watch. The athletes were so competitive and so confident. They embodied the motto of the Olympics, “Citius, Altius, Fortius, meaning Faster, Higher, and Stronger. 

In the past we had names like Chidi Imoh, Olapade Adenekan, Francis Obikwelu, the Ezenwa brothers, Mary Onyali, Gloria Alozie, Chioma Ajunwa, Olusoji Fasuba, and the list goes on and on. It must be noted though that the country had little or no input in discovering or developing these athletes.

2015, we have a new generation of athletes who u can say can run fast or can leap high and are strong but that’s all about it. And this they have been able to achieve on personal effort and not because there is a systematic programme to achieve such. Athletes who are training on personal efforts or as a result of a coach who still believes in the future.

Among this generation of athletes, a country of over 170m people can boast of just one top level athlete, Blessing Okagbare. Who again we must keep in mind got to where she is because of her exposure to good training system, etc. Aside Blessing, not another Nigeria athlete can compete with the very best in Africa not to talk of the world. But yet the body in charge of athletics in the country has set a qualifying standard high than that of USA. How funny but pathetic.

We most times blame the athletes when they perform poorly at tourneys. We blame them for lacking the Nigerian spirit, the will and desire to succeed in spite of the harsh condition being exposed to. Others blame it on lack of talents in a country of 170m.

The truth is Athletics is more than just talent, if it were, Nigeria will be at the podium on every Athletic events. And if Will and Desire guarantees success in Athletics, then we will be unstoppable. If you doubt me, take a stroll to the national stadium and watch how these athletes train.

There is a perception that athletics ‘made in Nigeria’ is dead in this country but it’s not the fault of the athletes but that of the body charged with its administration. The same body that set ridiculous bench marks for Olympic qualification to make it look like our poor outings at major event has been the fault of the athletes.

Ok enough of my sad tales and let’s look at what can be done just in case some people don’t really know what to do.

CATCH THEM YOUNG

First we need to go back to the basic, and that is ‘catching them young’. Where else to start but from the primary and secondary schools through encouragement of school sports. I am not talking about the type I did while in school, running without spikes, without any proper techniques or on sandy ground. I mean proper school sports, where an athlete is been thought the techniques and rudiment of his/her specialize sports.

This is because Athletics is different from other sports, it takes years of hard work and dedication to be an expert and get to the very top. Sprinting for example requires close to 6 years of constant training to produce an athlete that can compete for medals at major events. 

Engaging kids to proper school sports programme is the way to go.

TRAINING WITH MODERN DAY FACILITIES

I watched the commonwealth games with a friend as Blessing Okagbare grabbed gold at the 100 and 200m. Finals. I still recall my friend saying to me that if she (Blessing) was still training in Nigeria, she will be nowhere near her current level. Sadly that is the obvious truth.

 She is this brilliant, because she has been exposed to world class facilities at her base in the US. It is no doom saying but we can never produce a world class athlete if we continue to train our athletes with our 1970 facilities.

Some have argued that that those past generations of athletes trained with the same equipment but still did well. May I ask what the Olympic 100m record time was 10years ago and right now?. If you check you will discover that athletes are getting better and stronger at what they do. And it is not because we have more talented athletes now, but it’s purely thanks to improved training facilities.

This is 2015, let’s stop training our athletes with outdated equipment if we want to produce champions again. In some cases, the athletes don’t even train with any equipment whatsoever. INCREDIBLE!

PROVISION OF FINANCIAL INCENTIVES FOR ATHLETES/COACHES

Coaching an athlete is not what it used to be 10-20 years ago. To train an athlete is really time and money consuming. To get the best out of an athlete, a coach needs to make coaching a full time job. But can that be possible when he needs to pay his bills.

Government giving these coaches allowances or grants will go a long way improving their status and hence bring out the best from them.

So also the athlete who needs financial support to take care of his/her nutrition, training kits and other needs. Because for an athlete to perform at peak level he needs to be mentally, emotionally and physical stable. Athletics is not so popular like football, so must parent will hardly foot the bills of their athlete child making it hard for the athlete to remain focused.

 I often say one of the most difficult task in Nigeria athletics is going pro because you are up against several odds and finance ranks highest.

TRAINING AND RETRAINING OF COACHES

Athletic coaching is going more and more technical. These days it’s not usually about the repetitions of the sprints or the jumps or the throws, it’s not about just the sheer power. It’s more than that. It’s about been able to observe the every moves, being able to process, analyze and proffer quick remedy. For instance, a sound sprinting coach should be able to teach his athlete the transition from the general practice mode to the game ready performance mode.

The AFN should regularly send its coaches for training courses so they can up to date with the newest technical skill. Because the truth is an athlete is the mirror of his/her coach. He cannot do better than what the coach know.

 Athletics is not like football where the players can be way better than he coach. In athletics, the athlete can only be better in relation to what the coach know. If the coach know nothing, it shows in the performance of the athlete and vice visa.

In conclusion, we need to widen our pool by encouraging mass participation, because most youth are shying away from athletics because of how difficult it sem to get into the sports. Who knows  one of those kid shying away mayjust the next Usain Bolt.

 If we can get things right like other top countries do, coupled with our population and natural toughness, we can and will be unstoppable.