By: Gracious Akujobi
In a bid to drive and revolutionize grassroots sports in Nigeria in line with President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda in Sports, the National Sports Commission (NSC), Thursday commenced a 2-day ‘Train the Trainers’ workshop for Games Masters/Mistresses to fast-track the Rhythm N’ Play campaign in Nigeria.
In his welcome remarks, Director- General of the Commission, Gbenga Elegbeleye represented by Director, Federations & Elite Athletes Development Department (FEAD), Dr. Bolaji Ojo-Oba noted that the training workshop is an advanced step geared towards reaching out to the grassroots.
According to him, the workshop is predicated on the premise that the Commission needs to make concerted efforts to revisit and invest more resources in the promotion and development of grassroots sports in Nigeria.
He further stated that the whole idea behind the Rhythm N’ Play initiative and the training workshop is to underscore this new vision for grassroots sports development.
“As we continue to proceed to realize Mr. President’s target of bringing an additional two (2) million school children into sports within the next two years, we will continue to explore innovative ways of engaging these young Nigerians in spite of the challenges that we may face in the areas of funding, equipment and facilities development.” He added.
He therefore charged the participants to avail themselves of the benefits of the workshop and consider the new assignment of training others as a clarion call to action and a responsibility to contribute their time and efforts towards developing the future of the Nigerian child.
Participants are drawn from the thirty-six (36) states of the federation and the FCT. It will be recalled that the Rhythm N’ Play programme was launched earlier in the year by President Goodluck Jonathan.
The campaign is aimed at providing young Nigerians under the age of 17 with structured play programs that use sport and play as critical tools for learning.
