‘If school sports dies, elite sports dies’: Dikko advocates coordination among School Sports Associations
National Sports Commission Chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko has called for proper coordination among organizers of the school sports Games. Dikko gave this charge during an engagement meeting with the Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF).
His words, “We need to get the school sports right. When we talk about elite sports, school sports is the bedrock. If school sports dies, elite sports dies. There is no elite athlete that didn’t start from the grassroots and school sports is the bedrock of grassroots sports development.
“Therefore there should be coordination amongst the various organizers of the school sports Games. There should be proper synergy between NUGA, NIPOGA and NICEGA and the school sports federation. Not this one going left and the other one going right. All should be going in the same direction.”
He reiterated the Commission’s plans to evolve six centers of excellence and pointed out the need for synergy so as to have a seamless process.
“I had a meeting with the Rectors and Provosts of the Polytechnics and Colleges of Education the other day, at the instance of the Honourable Minister of Education Dr. Morufu Olatunji Alausa.
‘There is another meeting slated with the University Vice-Chancellors. The aim is to ensure that there is a smooth transfer of talents from one school to the other and indeed all stakeholders within the schools sports structure are aligned to the vision.
‘If we discover an athlete in School A, it will be easier to transfer him to School B that is a center of excellence”, he said.
He continued, “If we discover a child so early, say at the Primary School level, we should be able to give him a scholarship that will carter for him up to university and we should monitor him. We take that burden off the parents. He becomes our property. But if at any point, his figures drop to a certain minimum threshold, he drops out of the scheme until he improves. You have to sustain that high standard.”
The NSC Chairman shed more light on the Commission’s plans for school sports.
“We are setting up a designated Unit with officers at the Commission purely for school sports. For the first time, there is a budget line for NUGA, NIPOGA, NICEGA etc. It may not be much but it’s a starting point and will be consistent”, he added.
He promised a reward for the schools that discover these talents.
“We will create funds to encourage schools that produce these talents to even bring more. There is a budget line for grassroots sports development and talent identification and it will be well utilized”, he pointed out.
Mallam Dikko called for a total reorientation as regards school sports.
“School sports is not about winning. It is about the development of sports down to the grassroots and talent identification. We shouldn’t shift our focus from development to competitions. That is our mission here, to change our focus generally from being competition-driven to development-driven”, he concluded.
Earlier, the NSSF President Mrs. Olabisi Joseph said, “We are here to identify with your administration and chart a strategic course for the sustainable development of sports while positively engaging our school boys and girls, encouraging the nexus of sports and education towards the development of total education.”
