Youths and Sports Development Minister, Sunday Dare, on Sunday said the ministry was planning to have a camping system to nurture athletes discovered at the ongoing 5th National Youth Games (NYG).
Dare told newsmen in Ilorin after addressing some of the discovered athletes that the ministry would go beyond handing the athletes over to the national sports federations for follow-up.
He assured that there would be a renaissance in grassroots sports development.
“We are going to have some kind of rennaisance when it comes to grassroots development and that is at the local government and the state leveld.
“What we are planning to do at the ministry is to hand over the discovered athletes to the different federations.
“The work of the federations is to develop these talents further and nurture them.
“But, we will be going beyond sending them to the federations, as we want to involve a camping system where we will be able to monitor them and nurture them into sports professionals,” Dare said.
He added that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was ready to apply the same political will and spirit into sports to address the lingering challenges.
“Presently in the country we are facing challenges in terms of resources and its management, but the present administration is ready to direct the will in other sectors into sports.
“Also, we will be concentrating on the management, upgrade and maintenance of facilities,” Dare said.
The minister added that the federal sports ministry would help each state surmount its challenges in sports.
“Even though it is the responsibility of every state to develop sports, but I understand from my interaction with the Directors of Sports that states are facing challenges.
“I will present their case to the National Executive Council (NEC) and, as a follow-up, I will seek appointment with the state governors to present the pertinent issues raised by the Directors where help is needed.
“We will also hold a large meeting with the Directors to compare notes and learn how other states are doing better.
“Also, we want each state to bring forth a coach and submit same to the ministry,and the ministry would train them occasionally.
“This is because part of our challenges is the technical depth of our coaches, which we need to improve upon,” Dare said.
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