Lagos Sports Summer Camp: The Coaches’ Testimonials

Coaches of Lagos State Sports Commission have described the ongoing Lagos Sports Summer Camp as timely intervention by Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration to begin to groom budding athletes to replace aging athletes in the pool of sports talent in state.

A cross section of coaches who spoke with P.M. EXPRESS at the venue of the first leg of the 2021 edition of the Summer Camp at the Badagry Senior Grammar School premises at Badagry Oja, they applauded the approval given to the organization of the camping by the Governor. They opined that this is a deliberate plan by the government to catch the athletes young at their tender ages.

P.M. EXPRESS reports that the first phase of 2021 Lagos Summer Camp has in attendance 120 students of 9-14 years of ages from both public and private schools. They are being exposed to Athletics (Track and Field), Basketball, Chess, Darts, Judo, Karate, Scrabble, Table Tennis and Volleyball.  For the Life Skill activities at the Camp, all participants were divided according to their areas of interest such as Artwork, Art and Craft, Tie and Dye, Makeup, Hairdressing, Hat Making as well as how to make a Power Bank and Power Bank Battery.

“This is a fantastic programme in the school sports grassroots programme of the sports commission, and a good idea by the government. This is a new innovation, and a focus from the past to not only keep the students busy during their long vacation, but also to discover these boys and girls right from their tender ages. I am so much encouraging to be part of this and hope that it will continue,” said Friday Inyang, a Dart coach.

“If this programme is sustained, I believe that in the next few years, Lagos State will have pool of young talents,” he said.

According to Inyang, the students have been responding very well to their daily training and exposure to the game of Dart, adding that Dart being a game of life, it is easy for the kids to pick up the rudiments of the sport so easily.

He said that with time, the youngsters would have mastered the art of Dart.

To Lanre Owoiya-Nurudeen, one of the FIVES coach at the Summer Camp in Badagry, Governor Sanwo-Olu has once again shown his love for sports and the kids of Lagos. He said he was just being part of the programme for the first time and with what he saw in the kids, the future is great for the sport in the state.

“I believe our kids should be exposed to sports and education. The focal point of the Summer Camp is to teach these children sports and vocational training, which is good for the development of these young ones.

“What they exhibited in FIVES has been so amazing and encouraging to me as a technical officer in the game. Don’t forget that FIVES is a sport playing in Squash court. A game plays with five fingers. I can say FIVES is hand squash. These what we taught these kids and they were so glad being exposed to the sport for the first time here in the camp. I believe with proper monitoring, these youngsters are future champions for Lagos State,” he said.

P.M. EXPRESS can report that as the first phase in Badagry for the kids in Lagos West Senatorial District ends on Saturday, the second and third phases will come up from 22nd August to 28th August (Ikorodu) and from 29th August to 4th September (Surulere).