Inclusion
By Millicent Ifeanyichukwu
Lagos, June 21, 2018 (NAN) A Kickboxing Instructor in the National Institute for Sports, Adegboyega Adeniji-Adele, has called for the inclusion of kickboxing as a competitive sport in the 19th National Sports Festival (NSF).
Adeniji-Adele, also coach in the Lagos State made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
He said kickboxing had long been embraced in the country to be shortlisted among competitive events in the festival slated for between Dec. 6 and Dec. 16.
NAN reports that the NSF is a biennial multi-sport event organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development for athletes across the country to discover hidden talents and promote national unity.
He said: “The authority has done well by restoring the hope of athletes and coaches with a fixed date for the long awaited NSF which was abandoned for five years now.
“But it’s necessary to carry all the sports along; we observed that kickboxing is missing from the shortlisted sports for the festival and it’s not fair to kickboxers and followers of the sport.
“Kickboxing is a major martial art and have being proactive in international championships, it won Nigeria only gold medal in 2007 All African Games, Algiers under the ministry’s then director-general, Patrick Ikeji.
“In the recently held African Kickboxing Championships, Cameroun, Nigeria participated and won three gold, nine silver and four bronze medals, among many others, the ministry should consider us’’.
He described the non-inclusion of the sport among contested events as denial that could deter its development.
Adeniji-Adele also said that budding talents had been identified in various state associations and national championships itching to feature in the NSF.
“The NSF is an opportunity for young athletes from nooks and crannies of the country to come together, compete, facilitate and get discovered under a peaceful atmosphere.
“It will be unfair to deny future champions such an opportunity to showcase their skills and this, if not corrected, could frustrate the efforts of coaches and associations’’, he said. (NAN)
MIL/OMO/PDE
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(Edited by Martins Odeh/Peter Ejiofor)