The Ondo State Government on Thursday reiterated the need to return to school sports where raw talents could be identified, nurtured and promoted.
The Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Mr Bamidele Ologunloluwa, stated this while declaring open workshop organised by the ministry for sports technocrats in the state.
The theme of the workshop was “The Role of School Sports in Nation Building”.
Ologunloluwa, who described sports as a platform for character and leadership development, said it was not just a means of winning laurels alone.
He added that sport was a veritable platform to positively engage youths at a young age as it helped to take them off social vices.
According to him, mass sports participation and sports excellence can easily be attained with effective sports administration in schools.
He noted that this area has been neglected as consequences of poor implementation of sports policy direction.
“This neglect has culminated into sports apathy, delinquencies and consequently inhibiting the catch them young syndrome.
“Today, you have all been invited as technocrats to brainstorm and proffer solutions in the way forward to promote sports in nation building and Ondo State specifically.
“The present government is committed to grassroots sports development, having invested much in this area of human endeavour,” he said.
Ologunloluwa also said the state government would continue to prioritise the needs and improve on the welfare of the people through sporting activities.
In her welcome address, Mrs Foluke Tunde-Daramola, the acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Sports, said a critical assessment of sports had shown a huge decline in the grassroots sports development in schools.
Tunde-Daramola added that the purpose of the workshop was to train and re-train sports teachers and technocrats in the state on the need to improve the standard of sporting activities with a view to sustaining good health and physical fitness.
The resource person, Prof. Pat Oyeniyi of the Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, charged participants to go back to their various local governments to organise competitions.
Also, Dr Rasheed Oloyede of the Department of Environmental and Sanitation, Federal University of Education, Ondo, urged sports technocrats to ensure they generate money to upgrade facilities in their schools.
He conceded that sports was not only about competing, but to teach moral and fundamental knowledge. (NAN). READ ALSO:
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