By Femi Atolagbe
The Ondo State commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Mr Bamidele Ologunloluwa has charged youths to use their talents positively.
He said Ondo State is blessed with abundant talents, saying it’s pertinent for them to channel same God gifted talent into what will bring them into lime light.
The Commissioner represented by the permanent secretary in the ministry, Mrs Foluke Tunde – Daramola stated this at the 2023 Ondo State Boxing explosion tournament held at the Sports council’s indoor hall in Akure.
Ologunloluwa commended the Management of the state Sports Council for their effort in discovery and developing the athletes to stardom.
While praising the athletes who participated in the boxing explosion, he called on sports enthusiasts and philanthropists to join hands with the government to develop sports in the state.
He said:”Ondo State is a hub of talents, we have them across the 18 local government and we are using this medium to call on private individuals to collaborate with the government to meaningfully engage these talents.
“Government cannot do it alone, we need private individuals and corporate bodies to join hands with the government to develop sports in the state”, he said.
The General Manager of the Sports Council, Mr Henry Babatunde thanked the commissioner for his support towards sports development in the state.
Babatunde admonished the athletes to be focused on their carrier, saying they have all it takes to become world champions.
According to him, “this is the maiden edition of the boxing explosion, second edition will be bigger and better. We thank the organisers and the sponsor of this edition for their efforts.
“We still need more sponsors to be able to really unearth these budding talents across the State.”
In a chat with Sporting Hope,the head coach of the state boxing association, coach Abiodun Obanla disclosed that the purpose of the tournament was to discover and groom talents that will replace aging athletes. “We are working on succession plan for our senior boxers, we must continue to catch them young”.
Obanla said he was satisfied with the performance of the boxers, saying they have been able to discover new boxers at the tournament. “With more input from the coaches the sky is the beginning for them.”
“We need more sponsors to enable us organise more competitions, which will help in discover more athletes and also to assess the already established athletes, without competition there is no way we can make necessary corrections.”
Esan Donald defeated Ayodeji Matthew in the first bout, before Afolabi Taiwo crushed down Oduwole in the second bout, while Ogunjimi Adebayo ,Ayilaran Damilare, Odey John ,Ashebeta David ,Ojo Victor Yahya AbdulAfeez ,Ademiluyi all win their bouts and the bout between two national champions, James Kemi and Chukwu Roseline ended in stalemate .
