… says coaches are key to sports development
Sports minister, Mr Sunday Dare has lauded the Taekwondo Team Nigeria, which won two bronze medals at the World Taekwondo G-2 ranked Fujairah Open.
The Minister received the team at his office at the Moshood Abiola Stadium upon their return from the tournament that held in the United Arab Emirates from January 31 to February 2020.
Only Kenya and Nigeria won medals in the seniors’ event out of the 10 African countries that participated.
Dare who said he was impressed by the team’s achievements so far, encouraged them to do the country more proud at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
While addressing the members of the Taekwondo team, the Mr. Sunday Dare promised more support to the Taekwondo which is in line with his initiative to pay attention to all sports.
“I promise to pay more attention to Taekwondo and each of you, not just because you represent the country but because you fall within the target group I am really interested in. When I see 15, 16, 17, 18 up to 25 years old doing what you are doing it means a lot”
Meanwhile, the minister has stated that at the focal point of football and sports development are the coaches while pointing out that their roles in sports is key.
He stated this during the closing ceremony of the 4th edition of the NPFL/LaLiga coaching seminar facilitated by Coaching Instructors from Spain held at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
According to him, youth coaches are the most critical as they form the base for the fundamentals of sports development in Nigeria.
“It is a fact that at the very heart of sports development are the coaches, when you talk about the technical depth of our teams and players it rests with the coaches and it starts from the grassroots,” he said.
