A fresh graduate at the National Institute for Sports (NIS) in Lagos, Ogben Kindek Oyom aka ’50 – 50′ has revealed a chain of factors that made her opt for a course in professional sports management, despite being a coach in canoeing and swimming.
The amiable lady, who rose from being an athlete for Cross River State to a casual coach and secretary in the sports commission, disclosed further that she had a passion for refereeing and decided to formalise it with a professional course in sports management.
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After the convocation ceremony, she added in a chat with Sports247, “From today, I will be addressed as a professional sports manager. My course at NIS started in December 2023, and my convocation is 2025, January. I feel so excited about it, considering that I have had a passion for sports all along.
“It’s a great thing for me, and I feel the joy of this achievement; especially me coming over to the National Institute for Sports to become a manager and a referee. Not just a referee, but something I’ve had passion for as a hobby.”
Kindek then disclosed the love she has held over a long period of time for the referee’s vocation, especially regarding how it accords her the opportunity of enforcing rules of sportsmanship.
She also gave a rundown of the route in her advent to sports management, then added details of her love for refereeing, saying: “It’s a profession that I have passion for because it helps me maintain the integrity of the game, and I promise to keep that legacy.
At first, I was an athlete, a 400m runner in Cross River State, and then I represented the sports commission as a casual coach in canoeing. Soon, it happened that my director, Dr Jude Amadi, saw that I was doing well as an acting secretary in canoeing and swimming.
He also noticed that I can organise and manage sports activities. He then decided to change me from being a coach to a sports manager. From there, seeing my experience and exposure, another director, Mr Ella Agboh, encouraged me to come to NIS and take a professional course in sports management.”
Kindek took her unfolding story further by revealing that she thought it wise to take up football refereeing since she already had a deep interest in it over a very long period of time.
Kindek disclosed further, “I didn’t want to attend a course in canoeing or swimming. I then decided to go for football, because I discovered that I have related experience and exposure to football refereeing.
I decided to do a related course that would make it easier for me to promote sports, especially female football players. In that way, my advice for female athletes at youth, professional and elite levels is that they should look into their age.
If it is at a level where they can no longer make Nigeria proud with good results, they should just come to National Institute for Sports and have a study either in coaching or sports management. That’s what I have done and I’m very excited about it.”
She concluded with her projections into the future, with a view that the task ahead of her goes beyond frivolities, as she wants to keep making an impact on the community of Nigerian football and be a major reference point for the true value of match officials.
“It’s not just enough to be excited. If not for the grace of God, if not the determination, if not for the motivation, if not for the love I have and the passion I have for sports, I wouldn’t have been here. That’s why I am so excited.
NIS has exposed me, to the extent of making me a resource person who was able to give awareness on refereeing and officiating. In fact, that recognition alone is super, and I appreciate how NIS recognised me to be an instructor for grassroots coaching with the Lagos State Football Association,” Kindek concluded with glee.
 in Lagos, Ogben Kindek Oyom aka '50 - 50' has revealed a chain of factors){kind=link}