Idle national coaches are mere ‘roadside mechanics’
By JOE APU
Thursday, May 11, 2006
•Adamu
Photo: Sun News Publishing
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The credibility of national team coaches was brought to a near ridicule at the last Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne, Australia, with the performance of their athletes, with the returnee Director of Sports, Dr. Amos Adamu, threatening that the time has come for their positions to be revisited.
According to the director, the era of national team coaches sitting tight in their positions and waiting only for international assignments before working is not in the best interest of Nigerian sports.
“National coaches, to some other persons, are likened to the ‘roadside mechanics,’ who are just there in case ‘a car’ develops a fault. Whereas, the actual servicing of the ‘vehicle’ should have been taken care off earlier. The national coaches are looked upon as idle hands that have no set goals but just wait for international trips for them to take the accolades for the performance of the athletes, or their failure, as the case may be.”
Following the sack threat that the director issued back in Melbourne, Daily Sunsport sort the opinion of concerned sportsmen on the issue, wanting to know from them if actually, the national coaches are just idling away.
“We don’t have national team coaches in Nigeria,” Delta State Sports Commissioner, Chief Solomon Ogba, said. "Our coaches are not better than the roadside mechanics. Honestly, Nigeria need foreign coaches in all our sports, not just in football. I was not surprised that Nigeria did not do well at the last Commonwealth Games because our coaches know next to nothing.
They are empty barrels."
Franklin Howard, the first Flying Eagles captain, says national coaches are grossly misunderstood by their other colleagues and stressed that everyone that is a coach cannot be at the helm of affairs.
"National coaches cannot be said to be lazy because they are at that level. If they are so employed to work at the national level, then it’s good. The real problem is that there is no regulatory body for coaches, who grade them according to their certificates and performance at all levels. Given a cordial atmosphere, the national coaches in all the sports should have an understanding that will help the man in charge to understand the capabilities of the players in camp.
“Secondly, the other cause of the problem with our national coaches is this issue of quota system in their appointments. If the coaches that discover the players must be in the coaching crew, then they should be made to serve as assistants. There is no rule that says a set of coaches from a particular area cannot be in the national team as coaches.”
Chris Obojememe, FIBA referee, in his opinion points out that there is a big anomally in the way national coaches are selected. "The way national coaches are appointed now is very suspect. In some area of sports, the appointment of national coaches is made purely based on sentiments. It is an anomally for a national coach, who have no player from his own team to serve as the head coach of a team, whereas the coach, who has more than eight players is made to be an assistant.
What is the rational behind that?
“I want to recall that in the past, a coach with the winning aura is usually the one that coaches the national team like was the case with late Coach Emmanuel Chagu, when he handled the female national basketball team because his team provided more players than any other team. In the case of national team coaches that are employed by their federations, they can be assisted by the winning coaches of the league, while the national coaches are to go for regular trainings to update themselves.”
DSP Gideon Akinsola, former NFA board member, says that the manner in which national coaches are picked has taken our sports backwards. "Well, the truth is that the way national coaches are selected has taken our sports backwards. I think a good coach is that one who will go to the grassroots, discover and develop athletes.
"When we look back at the coaches who have been at the national level, we should think of people like Adegboye Onigbinde and Kashimawo Laloko, who have been to the grassroots and have reached their climax.
“Come to think of it, we are too much in a hurry to win. We’re not helping matters. There is a need for us to look for tested hands at the various national teams. There are fresh hands everywhere waiting to be tapped. We should have at least 20 coaches based on their performance and should trained not just for their certificates.”
Zikala Amgbare of Bayelsa State Sports Council says there is a need for everyone to understand the workings of federations as far as national coaches’ appointments are concerned. " For us to understand the issue at hand, there is the need for us to look politically at the word federation, which in this case has to do with the federal Ministry of Sports and Social Development. On the other hand, associations are at the level of the states that also employ and have people working in the state sports councils.
"If associations under the state sports councils have coaches employed to work for them, then there is no need for anyone to say that the federal ministry cannot employ coaches. That a coach wins a competition does not necessarily mean that he is the best around.
There are a number of coaches waiting to be given such opportunities to work and excel. So, in my opinion, the national coaches have their usefulness and should be allowed to do their jobs. That you are a coach does not mean that you can become national coach."
Abel Akhigbe, Athletics coach, is of the opinion that coaches at all levels should be invited purely on merit. "In athletics for instance, there are coaches for instance that have nothing to offer our athletes, yet they are there doing nothing.
“At the last Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, we took world class athletes, who got to the Games injured simply because they had been over loaded. The like of Gabriel Okon and Yusuf Ali had nothing to offer the team but because they have their Godfather in government, they were there. The fact that one is a former athlete does not mean that he or she can also be a good coach.
"There are coaches that have over the years gone to the grassroots to discover athletes that are today big time athletes known the world over. In 1994, there was a request by Dr. Amos Adamu that 20 good coaches should be sent to the grassroots to help discover athletes but that proposal never saw the light of day. Had that proposal seen the light of day, you can imagine the number of athletes that would have been discovered by now.
So, I think that people should show their qualities practically, before being called up as national coaches with those that have discovered the bulk of the athletes."