What We’re Doing Differently In Lagos Sports, And It’s Paying Off

At the recently held 7th National Youth Games in Asaba, Delta, Team Lagos maintained their second position on the medal table as they did at the Games in 2021 in Ilorin, Kwara State. It was 21 gold, 19 silver and 21 bronze medals in Asaba.

While reviewing the Lagos’ outing at the Games during a media parley at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos on Thursday, the Executive Chairman of Lagos State Sports Commission, Sola Aiyepeku said he and his core management team went as a group and they were proud to be in second position.

The core team at the press conference include the Director of Sports Development, Nunayon Travih; Director of Public Affairs, Oshodi-Eko Titilayo; Director of School Sports, Oluyomi Oluwasanmi; Director, of Sports Facilities, Deji Aladegbemi and Ag. Head of Department, Technical, Uthman Ola Okunnu who took turns to explain what Lagos is doing differently and how it is paying off for the state.

What we are doing in Lagos is to focus on people who make things happen. I want to thank everybody who made this happened. My Director General, Mr Oluwatoyin Gafaar for his professional planning and the motivation of the athletes with his leadership skills, and more importantly, the credit goes to the whole team. We won in Asaba in terms of real sports development with the ambition to do the right things.

We came to Asaba with the right age of athletes who have the passion to showcase their talent and make the state proud. We are proud to say that from these young athletes, we can face the future. Our strength lies in school sports. This is our first time going to a national competition with strong synergy between the public and private schools. A bond has been created between students in the public and private schools.

The process of getting both the private and public schools to be on the same page in sports started way back in 2019 when our chairman, Mr Aiyepeku and the Director General, Mr Gafaar assumed office. We realised that there was a lacuna, the gap which must be closed if we are serious about taking sports to the next level in Lagos.

We have been able to put confidence in place so that the students in both the private and poubli schools now see themselves as a united force to drive the ‘One Lagos’ project. You could see how we broke the dominance of Team Delta, Bayelsa in the swimming events at the Games. Lagos came first in the overall medal table in swimming for the first time. The bulk of our swimmers came from the private schools. I am happy to say that the collaboration is yielding positive results. You can see how we also broke new ground in weightlifting, cycling and other sports.

The management is taking note of our new strength, and we will give all the support needed by these young athletes to thrive in their chosen sports. Our plan as the Games ended is to settle down to groom and prepare these athletes for the National Sports Festival holding in Ogun State next year. One of our plans is to give all the athletes who participated in the National Youth Games wildcards to take part in any of the state trials for the sports festival.

These young athletes will have the opportunity to rub shoulders with their seniors from where we will choose the best for the festival.

For the young golfer, Funmilayo Beauty Oyero, the eight-year-old golf player who was one of our revelations in Asaba, we will give her close marking for her to progress in her chosen career ditto all other athletes.

We will keep all the athletes active with regular state competitions for us to get the best out of them. From January next year, we will redefine our support to the athletes in the areas of grants, medical provisions, equipment support and other enabling environments for the athletes to excel.

As a way of motivating and encouraging our athletes, we make it a responsibility to celebrate these athletes to give them a sense of belonging. For example, we showcased and celebrated Funmilayo Oyero, our eight-year-old golfer who was the cynosure of all eyes at the Ibori Golf Club, Asaba even though she did not win any medal, we gave her media attention during that period for the world to see vibrant young girl making Lagos proud on the green.

All machinery will be put in place to ensure that the athletes are progressing in their chosen careers so that in the next Games, we will have to transform the silver medals won this year into gold. The joy we have is that all the athletes reside in schools in Lagos. We as a state won’t go to other states to poach or cheat. While other states look for ready-made athletes, we are the grooming ground of athletes in Nigeria.

I was emotional seeing our basketball team performing excellently well at the games. Our plan is to monitor and groom these athletes. We will continue to open the conversation line between us, the parents and the schools so that there will be unity of purpose in what we all want to achieve for the athletes. We have been consistent in the organisation of national and international championships in Lagos. Lagos is the hub of sports in Nigeria, and this has been helping to monitor our athletes and expose them. We will not also forget our coaches who will be included in our plans. They are integral to our developmental plans.