By Eric Ojo
Community Sport and Educational Development (CSED) Initiative, a frontline Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has reaffirmed its commitment and support for the promotion of Badminton, particularly at the grassroots level in Nigeria.
This is coming to the heels of the just concluded three-day Badminton training for game masters, game mistresses, and secondary school students, organized by the Taraba Badminton and powered by the CSED.
The event which was held at the indoor sports hall of the Jolly Nyame Stadium in Jalingo, is geared towards providing secondary school teachers and students access to learning basic skills of the game, which is part of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) goal of promoting grassroots development of badminton in Nigeria.
Moreover, the training was also held in tandem with CSED’s strategic two years’ grassroots development partnership with the BFN.
Notably, 80 students drawn from 18 secondary schools across the state and 24 Game Masters and Game Mistresses attended the training, which was very comprehensive and tactical.
Director of Taraba State Sports Council, Mr. George Shitta who doubles as a Board member of BFN, led six other badminton instructors that taught the students and teachers the theory and practical aspects of Badminton.
While speaking to sports journalists at the end of the training, Mr. Shitta said an event of this nature is aimed at taking Badminton to young secondary school students, encourage them to enjoy combining sports with their education, as well as supporting their development into future badminton players that will represent the state and Nigeria.
“Just like Jimkan Ephraim an indigene of Taraba State who used to be a former African badminton number 1 player. Some of the students were happy to learn from the experience of Jimkan Ephraim, who also attended this training event”, he said.
He commended the gesture of CSED Initiative for collaborating with Taraba Badminton and for their decision to select Taraba State as one of the states that will in future benefit from its “PROJECT 2027” programme, which is aimed at developing the game of grassroots netball in Nigeria.
He further disclosed that CSED Initiative donated 60 badminton rackets, 18 tubes of shuttlecocks, and 17 nets which were later distributed to the schools that attended the training event.
The director also promised to complement the gesture of CSED Initiative by organizing an inter-school badminton tournament in future, between the schools that participated in the training event.
Similarly, the Director of Sports, Taraba State Ministry for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Affos Musa Emmanuel promised to liaise with the Director of Taraba Sports Council, in order to get some coaches to go round the schools that participated in the training with a view of these coaches providing additional onsite training that will support the teachers and students in the practicing of their new Badminton knowledge.
Some of the pupils who participated in the training, Ruth Andoor (13 years old) from Government Technical Training School (GTTS) Jalingo, Emmanuel George Shitta (11 years old) from Destiny Success Academy, and Anna Sylvester Jabire (15 years old) from Raddar Metropolitan School Jalingo, noted that by attending the training, they have gained more knowledge of the game.
Other participants which include, Victoria Edoche (13 years old) from Our Lady of Consolation, Telltuly Calib Jibril (13 years old), and Ayaungwa Wisdom (13 years old) from Heritage Academy, equally described the training as being impactful and promised to be more committed during their future badminton training.
One of the instructors that trained the students and teachers, Emmanuel Sambo said the training will go a long way in encouraging the young talents to become Badminton champions in future.
He therefore, urged the Taraba State Government to pay attention to the sports sector in order to improve its internally generated revenue.
The event ended with the presentation of rackets, tubes of shuttlecocks and nets those who represented the participating schools.