Delta Sports Festival: Okorodudu wants outstanding athletes properly groomed News

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Delta Sports Festival: Okorodudu wants outstanding athletes properly groomed

By Daily Sports on May 18, 2017

Jerry Okorodudu, a former African boxing champion, has urged the Delta Government to ensure that athletes who fared well during the recent Delta Sports Festival are kept together.

Okorodudu said in Lagos that keeping them together would also ensure that follow-up programmes for their continuous training and attending competitions were installed.

He noted that the major objective of the festival, which ended last Friday, May 12, was achieved as some promising athletes; including boxers, were identified during the competition.

His words: “Thank God for a successful event, huge turnout and the opportunity for the state to identify promising athletes in sports that were featured at the competition.

“In the boxing event, some were singled out as a result of their outstanding performances, which could make the state’s team to have high chances of excelling at the anticipated 19th National Sports Festival.

“The basic thing to do for these boxers is to camp them as a follow-up to get them focused for adequate preparations for the national sports festival.

“The training in camp will get them focused, fortify their current form and enable them to meet the standard requirement to prove themselves and bring honour to Delta.”

Okorodudu said that adequate arrangement must be made for proper camping with equipment such as punching bags, skipping rope, guards, and protectors provided.

The African champion, who doubles as a boxing coach, added that special arrangement should be made to accommodate scholars among them to enable them to merge academics with the programme.

“The government encourages sports and academics, so, those in that category must be allowed to probably train early, go to school and also take part in the evening sessions,” Okorodudu added.

He advised the authorities to give priority to the athletes’ welfare during camping, adding that they needed to be well fed and taken care of to avoid any form of distraction.

Okorodudu, however, warned athletes who won medals at the festival not to be carried away by their performances but rather see it as the beginning of their sports career.

Some 20 sports, athletics, para-athletics and football were staged at Ozoro Polytechnic, while swimming and cycling took place at Obiaruku and Agbor respectively.

The Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba hosted boxing, chess, badminton, judo, kungfu, karate, gymnastics, scrabble, ayo, table tennis, squash, para-table tennis and wrestling.

Fifty athletes represented each of the 25 local government areas of the state at the festival.

•Photo shows former African boxing champion Jerry Okorodudu.

Source Daily Sports

Posted May 18, 2017