C
Chris Maduewesi
Guest
President of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation(NTF) George Ashiru,has revealed that they are focusing on sourcing for talents from the grassroot level,to build on the success they are currently experiencing in the sport.
Ashiru, said the Taekwondo federation intends to roll out a programme named Strategic Initiative for Taekwondo (SIFT), which will reach out to the grassroots as well.
“In the next few weeks, we will be unveiling the Strategic Initiative for Taekwondo. The idea is to develop a combined grass-roots talent identification system and develop it into an elite athlete performance training process, which will raise the technical standard of training and coaching in Nigeria as well as save Nigeria huge funds on international training programmes,” Ashiru old The Punch.
Ashiru who is also the vice president of the Commonwealth Taekwondo Union, however praised Nigeria’s performance at the World Championship in Mexico.
“We went with a relatively small team. Our goal was to keep the ratings of our players within the top 35 in their weight categories because it will influence selections towards the next Olympic qualifying series,” he said.
“The boys performed well. We didn’t have the long-term professional process of preparation, which is typical for a World Championship with over 140 nations.”
“If we had up to six months uninterrupted preparation, the team would have been in the top eight at the event.”
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Ashiru, said the Taekwondo federation intends to roll out a programme named Strategic Initiative for Taekwondo (SIFT), which will reach out to the grassroots as well.
“In the next few weeks, we will be unveiling the Strategic Initiative for Taekwondo. The idea is to develop a combined grass-roots talent identification system and develop it into an elite athlete performance training process, which will raise the technical standard of training and coaching in Nigeria as well as save Nigeria huge funds on international training programmes,” Ashiru old The Punch.
Ashiru who is also the vice president of the Commonwealth Taekwondo Union, however praised Nigeria’s performance at the World Championship in Mexico.
“We went with a relatively small team. Our goal was to keep the ratings of our players within the top 35 in their weight categories because it will influence selections towards the next Olympic qualifying series,” he said.
“The boys performed well. We didn’t have the long-term professional process of preparation, which is typical for a World Championship with over 140 nations.”
“If we had up to six months uninterrupted preparation, the team would have been in the top eight at the event.”
Continue reading...