JANUARY 2021
JANUARY 2021 - VOL II ISSUE I
“ Sports infrastructure can be defined as the primary physical and organizational structures needed to facilitate sport participation for athletes .”
Hakeem Olajuwon emigrated from Nigeria where he schooled and played sports as a goalkeeper , to play Basketball in the USA . He later represented the Americans on national assignment .
Francis Obikwelu is a known name in African Athletics . The Nigerian won silver for his adopted country , Portugal , at the 2004 Athens Olympics . He switched nationality from the West African nation for the Iberian country following issues related to poor infrastructure and treatment for athletes .
Incidentally , he is one African who holds a record in Africa and Europe . He held the 200m record for Nigeria ( 19.84s , 1999 ) before it was shattered by Divine Oduduru in 2019 ; and still holds the 100m record for Portugal ( 9.86s ).
Countless number of African talents have left their countries and continent for European , American and Asian nations for different reasons but the top on the list of those reasons is and has always been lack of adequate infrastructure for trainings and development of their talents .
They struggle in Africa but blossom when they cross over because they can train , grow , and develop better as athletes .
Sports infrastructure can be defined as the primary physical and organizational structures needed to facilitate sport participation for athletes – professional , amateur or social interest members of the sporting community .
Sports holds a central strategy to promote the image of communities and nation with a global positioning advantage , undertake regeneration and tackle problems of social exclusion .
It is the problems of social exclusion that feed militancy , extremism , violence and corruption . Successful institutions have increasingly used sports events to influence city and members development in a more comprehensive and progressive way , combining economic , social , environmental , religious and communal concerns .
Like late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa said concerning sports , it “ has the power to inspire — and it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does … sports can create hope where once there was only despair . It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers ”.
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