Musa Nimrod, President, Nigeria Volleyball Federation, says the 35 coaches undergoing North-West coaches training in Kaduna are to go back to the grassroots and develop the game.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that no fewer than 35 coaches and games masters are participating in the course organised by the Kaduna State Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
The course which began on April 25 and will end on 28.
Nimrod said: “I want to say to all of us that national team has been disbanded because the players have aged.
“A lot of us don’t want to go back to schools to discover young players, but I advise you to go back and scout for young ones, go back and start academies with the knowledge you will gather from this course.”
Nimrod said that in view of the rich course outline, he wished he was one of the participants, adding that those who failed to turn up would be missing a lot.
He said: “It is a rare privilege. From what I have seen of the course content here, it requires me and you concentrating.
“History will not just be taken away like that. Some of us may not have realised that we may just be looking at it like grade one, grade two, but the course content is more than that.
“For some of us, it’s just a paper for our promotion; it is not going to help us that way. Basic fundamentals are missing because we are not looking at our schools volleyball assets.
“The boy that was the Most Valuable Player in Lagos last week, a young boy from Ghana, must have been discovered at a tender age at the grassroots. The course is purely theory and practical.”
Nimrod, who is also the sponsor of the training course, said that the game at the grassroots was a challenge to all, which must be taken seriously.
He said: “It is a challenge to me, a challenge to you. By Monday, our cadets, U-19 will be coming to Kaduna and we are starting fresh. By the time we complete, we move them to Abuja.”
He said that through the course, they were building up most of the coaches so that in the nearest future, they could go to become national coaches.
He said: “We feel we should start from the grassroots, I felt as a president, we should start from the grassroots. We don’t have a good transition right now, our coaches are getting outdated.
“We feel the instructors should come back and impart. Whoever is not around has missed a lot.”
He urged state volleyball associations to stage competitions.
Nimrod said: “We are encouraging states in the zone to conduct competitions. In Kaduna State, we have a league. If we can go round the country with such, it will have impact.”
Earlier, the Zonal Coordinator, North-West, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Devlopment, Olushola Luke, said that Tony Oguma, the resource person was highly competent.
Oguma said: “The reason we are gathered here today is because we want to lay foundation for the basics of volleyball.
“But we are to understand that no matter the level you are as a coach, it is good to refresh yourself from time to time. That is why we brought in a knowledgeable resource person so that you can learn from him.
“By the time you are through with the course, you would have benefited a lot.
“I am proud to tell you that when the resource person was a volleyball coach, we were next to football in terms of popularity.
“And we told the government that what you give to football, if you give to us one tenth, volleyball will be more popular.”
The zonal coordinator said that the benefit of the coaching course to the grassroots was that they were starting from the foundation.
He said: “It is important just like the foundation for a building. It forms the pillars of the game, go back to build the grassroots.”
Luke commended the sponsor for the gesture while cautioning the volleyball family against other sports making moves to snatch Nimrod.
Declaring the course open on behalf of the Kaduna State Government, the Director of Sports, Yakubu Ibrahim, expressed optimism that it would further develop the game at the grassroots.
Ibrahim said: “The importance of this workshop is big. I believe with this training, our coaches will have an edge, they will do us proud.
“We are looking at grassroots sports development and this course came at the right time.”
35 coaches, games masters begin North-West Zone volleyball training in Kaduna
