The president of Nigeria Fencing Federation (NFF), Adeyinka Samuel has disclosed that a concrete plan has been set in motion for the development of indigenous coaches for the sport, which he cited as their priority for now.
While also acknowledging the importance of organising competitions and ensuring the exposure of fencing referees, Samuel reckoned that coaching is the foundation for everything that can be achieved in any sporting endeavour.
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Towards making the coaching of fencing in Nigeria gain ground, it was gathered further that Samuel and other egg heads of the sport have already sealed a partnership that will help them enhance technical levels in the sport.
Samuel disclosed, “Part of our technical agreement with the fencing association, which we established last year, is that we will be having competitions with them. We also have a technical agreement with them to support us.
“When it comes to the technical aspect, coaching specifically, there are many areas we need to work on and improve on. We need to look at coaching within our country and from there move on.”
With Nigeria having already attended some overseas competitions, including the 2024 Olympic Games and already bracing to host another major event in December, after success achieved during a similar venture hosted by Lagos State in 2022, Samuel said the emphasis now should be on development of coaches.
“We have to expand the quality of our coaches and make them better with new training methods, which we would then leverage for better results.
“That will be done along with other things, like the organisation of competitions, which they are also very good at, and refereeing. But, we’ll first start with the coaching aspect and then gradually move on to other things,” Samuel projected.
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