A sport administrator, Dr Paul Bankole, has said grassroots sport business remains the best option to discover hidden talents and ensure development of sporting activities in rural areas.
The administrator made this declaration in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while addressing sports reporters on the “Iseya Games”, which he proposed as an initiative to groom teenagers and youths into professional sports men and women.
Bankole who is the Director General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigeria – Brazil Sports Academy, also noted that the private sector and stakeholders including sports writers must lead the drive for grassroots sports development.
According to him, the government and its officials would continue to fail, if major stakeholders fail to do the needful.
He submitted that there is “very painful fracture” in the management and administration of sports due to “non – existence of a sustainable grassroots development structure to sustain the massive infrastructure in the state.
“Sports is the most lucrative vocation in the world today. Sports is that thread bidding us together, not religion, not politics.
“We are sitting on a massive gold mine yet to be strategically explored. A gold mine that will create millions of jobs for our teenagers, youth, young adults and elders in the state,” he said.
Speaking on the proposed “Iseya Games”, he noted that it would transform Ogun State, with the largest number of industries, into an “enviable sports industrial State.”
“I, therefore, unequivocally charge members of Ogun State SWAN to assist in proffering solutions aimed at boosting the enabling sporting environment, in tandem with global best practices.
“You are the tower with the beacon to strategically guide the state sporting family along the route leading to the treasure island of sports business, via grassroots sports development and promotion,” he stated
