A renowned grassroots athletics coach, Tobias Igwe, has urged authorities of the country’s sports to commence early preparations for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
He said in Lagos that the relevant authorities should take the necessary steps toward a successful outing for Team Nigeria at the quadrennial event.
The Commonwealth Games will hold in Glasgow, Scotland, from July 23 to August 3.
“I sincerely believe that with early preparations, we will make a huge impact in Scotland; we have athletes that are as fast as Usain Bolt, but they need to train for a long time.
“By now we should understand that camping athletes for two months will not give us the desired results. Our athletes do not start training early enough unlike the Jamaicans.
“The National Sports Commission should please put in place all the necessary logistics to ensure that athletes’ welfare and that of their coaches is taken care of,’’ Igwe said.
Igwe also pleaded with the Federal Government to make special budgetary provisions for sports to avoid the recurring problem of late release of funds.
“Funds should be provided for competitions that have fixed dates. You don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that preparations without funding is tantamount to failure.
“We need to put many things in place to win medals at any competition,’’ he added.
