2020 Olympics: Coaches Association advocate more international exposure

President, Track and Field Coaches Association of Nigeria (TATCAN), Godwin Ogogo has called for more international training for Nigerian athletics coaches for the country to excel at international competitions.

Ogogo made the call on Saturday in Abuja at the end of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) training course for 24 coaches at the Mashood Abiola National Stadium.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that good coaching and early preparations were imperative for Nigeria to return to the good old days of dominance in athletics in Africa.

“I think for us to return to the good old days when we dominated athletics on the continent, we need to focus on proper coaching and early preparations for competitions,” he said.

Ogogo maintained that exposure of coaches to modern coaching techniques was key to grooming athletes that could win medals for Nigeria at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and other athletics competition.

He explained that the just concluded IAAF Level 1 Athletics Coaches Education Certificate Course was organised to train the trainers in modern coaching techniques in line with international best practice.

“The IAAF coaching course (level 1) is a programme by the world athletics body to train coaches to be able to develop and produce athletes that will make impact in the world of athletics,” he said.

The IAAF coaching instructor said that the two weeks coaching course covered 22 events including sprints, middle and long distance races, throws, hurdles and jumps.

He expressed optimism that proper implementation of the coaching system across the country, would see Nigeria taking over athletics in Africa and the world at large.

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NAN reports that the course held from July 8 to July 19 and participants were presented IAAF coaching certificates at the end of the training. (NAN)