The organisers of the Lagos State U-15 Taekwondo Championship could not hide their excitement as over 300 talented children thrilled the spectators at the event held at the Rowe Park Sports Complex Yaba.
The children drawn from taekwondo clubs, schools, academies and remote areas of the state, according to the Lagos State Taekwondo Association, participated in different classes at the one-day event.
Lagos State Taekwondo Association Chairman, Jimmy Ogunnowo explained that the association decided to hold the championship to discover more talents from their formative age.
Ogunnowo said that talents discovered at the event would be monitored and exposed to more competitions that would keep them abreast of the latest techniques in the sport.
He commended the participants’ parents for giving their children the support to feature in the sport, saying that more children needed to be encouraged to take part in sports.
“The U-15 Taekwondo championship is all about catching them young in the male and female gender. Our major aim is to discover the talents and admit them to the Lagos Taekwondo team.
“We will engage coaches to monitor their performance and train them so that they would represent the state in future competitions.”
It is also our desire to see that the children grow up to attend youth championships and also represent the country at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and All Africa Games.
“With the right mentoring, I can assure that some of the children discovered in the competition would win laurels for the country in future,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, technical director of the U-15 Taekwondo championship, Dr Ferguson Oluigbo called on government at all levels and corporate bodies to sponsor taekwondo stars to international championships to broaden their skills in the sport.
“The U-15 Taekwondo championship is aimed at discovering talents in children. The sport will grow more if the stars were given more international exposure.
“I am glad about the large turn out of children at the event. Some of them were in camp for weeks to attain full concentration before the event. We commend parents and guardians for allowing the children to engage in Taekwondo,” he declared.
Story Credit: guardian.ng/sport/
