Coaches, officials to get training ahead NDG

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Coaches and technical officials participating in the Niger Delta Games will benefit from a training programme designed to improve their efficiency ahead of the 2026 edition.

Sir Itiako Ikpokpo, Managing Director of Dunamis Icon Limited, the managing consultant for the Niger Delta Games, announced on Channels Sports.

Responding to a question on sustaining talent discovery, Ikpokpo lamented the poor remuneration of coaches and questioned how their employers expect them to travel to communities to identify new talent.

“We are working with partners, the Niger Delta Development Commission and, specifically for this event only, the Nigeria Local Content Development and Management Board to organise a workshop in January for coaches and technical officials,” he said.

Ikpokpo urged governments at the state and federal levels to fund sports infrastructure the same way they fund road and hospital projects.

“For us to make any impact in sports, the government must invest in sports infrastructure. It is good to build roads and hospitals, and it is also important that we invest in sports infrastructure.”

The chairman of the Delta State Athletics Association also lamented that schools are built in Nigeria without provisions for sports grounds.

“The schools are the cradle of sports development, yet we have people building schools with no sports facilities,” he said.

Ikpokpo promised that the second edition of the Niger Delta Games, scheduled to take place in Benin, the Edo State capital, would be an improvement on all fronts compared to the last edition.

Peter, who has been covering sports for PUNCH for close to two years, focuses on combat sports reporting, special features and human angle stories

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