Kwara State Govt Renews Commitment To Sports Development

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Kwara State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to the development of sports at different levels in order to explore and maximize its huge benefits.

Executive Chairman of Kwara State Sports Commission, Bola Mogaji gave the assurance while speaking at the two-day Train-the-Trainers grassroots badminton programme, which was held at the indoor Sports Hall of the Kwara State Stadium in Ilorin.

The training event was powered by Community Sports and Educational Development (CSED) Initiative, who are the grassroots partners of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN).

Mogaji who represented the state government at the event, under the auspices of “Shuttle Time”, one of the few grassroots sport events in the world that involve students and their teachers learning the basic skills of a sport together at the same venue.

The Shuttle Time programme is a Badminton World Federation (BWF) initiative that aim to take the game of badminton to the schools and to the grassroots.

He said sports bring people together, empower people and it has the potential of improving the economy of the athletes, the state and the country. He therefore commended the participants for their conduct, advising them not to derail from their focus.

The representative of the governor also announced the personal donation of N200 thousand for the future staging of Kwara State Secondary Schools Badminton Championship.

The training involved 28 Physical Education (P.E.) Teachers and 102 students drawn from various secondary schools across the state.

This is in order to introduce badminton to children and young persons at the grassroots level, as well as discover and develop hidden talents in schools.

The Ilorin Shuttle Time event was facilitated by the National Coordinator Shuttle Time Nigeria, Coach Tajudeen Suleiman, who was supported by other Shuttle Time trained coaches.

The coaches used balloons and badminton rackets and shuttlecocks to demonstrate to the participants, the basics of badminton in a fun provoking way. The BFN Technical Director, Coach Tunde Kazeem, supported in the training of the participants.

The Chairman, Association of School Sports Officers, Suleiman Yusuf Ademola, expressed his appreciation to the WBF, BFN and CSED Initiative for providing students in Kwara State the opportunity to learn the basics of badminton.

He stated that developing sports at the grassroots level, especially in schools is the right way to engage the P.E. Teachers and train students.

At the end of the training, certificates were awarded to the P.E. Teachers and one hundred (100) rackets, 25 tubes of shuttlecocks and 25 nets were given to the participating schools to ensure the take-off of the game of badminton in the schools.

The BFN Shuttle Time train will move to Kaduna State, precisely Zaria on the 18th and 19th of July 2023.

Meanwhile, the Kwara State Badminton Association, is expected to work out the modalities for hosting a hitch free secondary school tournament in future.

In his remarks, the Chairman of Kwara State Badminton Association, Engr. Suleiman Warah advised the participants to embrace badminton, describing it as a lovely game, which the students can make out a career out of it, while at the same time pursuing their academic programme.

Engr. Warah said the association would not relent in contributing its quota to the development of badminton