Gombe hosts Athletics capacity training for school Game masters
By Uzor Odigbo
A three-day workshop is being organised for games masters of 65 secondary schools in Gombe State.
The workshop is in preparation for the upcoming inter-Secondary School Athletics Championships to be held at the Gombe State University Hall between July 1-3.
The workshop is the brainchild of chairman Gombe State Athletics Association (GAA), Hon. Ahmed Shuaibu Gara Gombe in growing Athletics talents in the state.
The Training and Capacity building workshop will also prepare the Main Organing Committee and sub-committees to achieve total and effective results during the Athletics competition.
A press statement signed by the technical director to the MOC Chairman, Simon Ayuba, stated that high caliber resource persons have been engaged to update attendees in handling modern Athletics events, rules, equipment, terminologies and general guidelines including the media during competitions.
The 3-day training and capacity building workshop is in collaboration with Green White Green (GWG) Center limited.
The GAA Chairman, Hon. Gara Gombe said in a separate interview that the programme was initiated to mitigate and grow Athletics talents in Gombe and the Northeastern states in general.
“It’s disheartening that the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) selected 40 Athletes to represent the country in Douala, Cameroon and only 2% of Athletes from the North made the team.
“This trend must stop because it is not good, talents capable of representing Nigeria in Competitions abroad must be harvested all over Nigeria and we have taken the challenge. the North used to have abundant talents in the past, today, it’s either Delta, Edo, Lagos or Ondo States Athletes that are dominant in Team Nigeria for the Paris Olympic Games,” Gombe lamented.
