150 MIL PEOPLE 0 MEDALS?

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

How many countries fit this category? Indonesia n India havent won nattin yet but i think there might others? pls, can u help me with this dilemma.I just cant seem to remember if any other countries that fit this description?

[Mr. Piffington]

Uselessness.

[akamoke]

Instead of lamenting how useless we are, start encouraging your friends and family to take up these sports and have a vision 2020 in place now, just like the US is doing...ah nevermind, its easier to just lament about how useless we are every 4yrs, we are who we are. As Rugby is now an olympic sport that is my vision for 2020...2016 is too early

[soothsayer]

Instead of lamenting how useless we are, start encouraging your friends and family to take up these sports and have a vision 2020 in place now, just like the US is doing...ah nevermind, its easier to just lament about how useless we are every 4yrs, we are who we are. As Rugby is now an olympic sport that is my vision for 2020...2016 is too early

The true question is if one of our athletes suddenly asked for support and donations from individuals in order to support their training, will we dip into our pockets. Support is not just about shouting over the internet, its about following the individual from start to finish. It could be as simple as forming a supporters or fan club for the athlete and showing up to events boosts the athletes motivation. Or forming a donation scheme through social network to finance the individual. Britain uses the national lottery, why can't we start a lottery of our own dedicated to supporting the athletes and sports in Nigeria?

[AreaDaddy]

Luck and talent as a factor is sports success is dying. It is all about preparation, technical, psychological and financial. Serious nations are already executing plans for 2016 and in some sports for 2020. Nigeria can't compete with that. We may have the odd individual who's passions drives him to succeed in his or her own right but mega success is not happening anytime in the next 10 years.

In 1996 the UK won 1 gold medal in the Olympics since them they have pumped serious money into various sports particularly rowing, cycling and athletics. The cycling center in Manchester is world class and is like a cycling university. They have technical specialist, nutrionist, psychologist and are exposed to high level competition to the extent that when they turn up at the Olympics they are a finely drilled gold medal winning unit.

China, USA, and others will all have variants of this.

Success now comes at a high price, individual commitment is simply not enough. Individual is simply all that Nigeria can offer.

[Mr. Piffington]

Luck and talent as a factor is sports success is dying. It is all about preparation, technical, psychological and financial. Serious nations are already executing plans for 2016 and in some sports for 2020. Nigeria can't compete with that. We may have the odd individual who's passions drives him to succeed in his or her own right but mega success is not happening anytime in the next 10 years.

In 1996 the UK won 1 gold medal in the Olympics since them they have pumped serious money into various sports particularly rowing, cycling and athletics. The cycling center in Manchester is world class and is like a cycling university. They have technical specialist, nutrionist, psychologist and are exposed to high level competition to the extent that when they turn up at the Olympics they are a finely drilled gold medal winning unit.

China, USA, and others will all have variants of this.

Success now comes at a high price, individual commitment is simply not enough. Individual is simply all that Nigeria can offer.

[akamoke]

Precisely AD and Soothsayer

The problem is structure, not coaching and players alone

Same goes for our football, when we lose people blame the coach, No, our attitude to sports must change

I remember in 2000, I was in Nigeria trying to raise a 7's Rugby team and I approached the sports ministry about the sport. I was told flat out that I was wasting my time, that Football is all what Nigeria is interested in now. My response was that if we build a team, Nigerians will support it. I was brushed off. I still believe in Nigerian Rugby and somehow, we have achieved the success of forming a Rugby Union which the likes of Victor Ubogu and Jeremy Guscott (Ex English players) are supporting

Just as with our resources, we must diversify our sports so we dont *Nice Lady* every 4 yrs about 150 mil people and no medals

Totally support the idea of supporters clubs, the internet can be useful in this endeavor

If we the supporters cannot give our own best for the teams, then we have no right to complain

[Oba]

Luck and talent as a factor is sports success is dying. It is all about preparation, technical, psychological and financial. Serious nations are already executing plans for 2016 and in some sports for 2020. Nigeria can't compete with that. We may have the odd individual who's passions drives him to succeed in his or her own right but mega success is not happening anytime in the next 10 years.

In 1996 the UK won 1 gold medal in the Olympics since them they have pumped serious money into various sports particularly rowing, cycling and athletics. The cycling center in Manchester is world class and is like a cycling university. They have technical specialist, nutrionist, psychologist and are exposed to high level competition to the extent that when they turn up at the Olympics they are a finely drilled gold medal winning unit.

China, USA, and others will all have variants of this.

Success now comes at a high price, individual commitment is simply not enough. Individual is simply all that Nigeria can offer.

Chief, it is 'too late' to start preparing for 2016 now. Those preparations started BEFORE Beijing. Right now, we'd have to look beyond 2020, but even then, many institutional problems could derail such preparations.

Whichever government decides to turn around sports will NOT reap the benefits. It takes a decade or so to see results. These talents are sometimes discovered when they are 6-8 and reach their peak in their 20s. With a culture of 'starting afresh' with each new administration, not accepting setbacks and looking for excuses to can projects to implement new ones, it would be tough to get a lasting sports programme going. Especially when there will be no rewards for doing the right thing.

But that's just the beginning of it. Sports and competition is an important part of development. Competing develops mental capabilities that drive nations forward. And when our sporting fortunes are in decline, I'm afraid those may also reflect a general trend of lowering competitiveness of the average Nigerian, a reflection of the state of our institutions that kill competition and merit.

[Metho scorpion]

How many countries fit this category? Indonesia n India havent won nattin yet but i think there might others? pls, can u help me with this dilemma.I just cant seem to remember if any other countries that fit this description?

...the only way to help you with your DILEMMA is...get yourself out, pick any event and begin to prepare for the next olympic...or get commited with your child...do something...

[Oba]

How many countries fit this category? Indonesia n India havent won nattin yet but i think there might others? pls, can u help me with this dilemma.I just cant seem to remember if any other countries that fit this description?

...the only way to help you with your DILEMMA is...get yourself out, pick any event and begin to prepare for the next olympic...or get commited with your child...do something...

If my child got trained, any guarantees that child won't end up competing for Britain instead?

[Guv007]

How many countries fit this category? Indonesia n India havent won nattin yet but i think there might others? pls, can u help me with this dilemma.I just cant seem to remember if any other countries that fit this description?

...the only way to help you with your DILEMMA is...get yourself out, pick any event and begin to prepare for the next olympic...or get commited with your child...do something...

If my child got trained, any guarantees that child won't end up competing for Britain instead?

Quite frankly it should be the country that trained and developed him first and if he doesn't make the cut for the country he can consider other countries.

[pajimoh]

How many countries fit this category? Indonesia n India havent won nattin yet but i think there might others? pls, can u help me with this dilemma.I just cant seem to remember if any other countries that fit this description?

You can have gazillion people and still have zero medals. You get what you invest. It was estimated GB invested £120m more in the last Olympics and got 12 more medals. That is £10m per medals. When Nigeria invests such money and get nothing for it then we can talk.

Unless you expect other nations to invest heavily only for Nigeria to pick up the medals because we have 150m people?

[Mr. Piffington]

How many countries fit this category? Indonesia n India havent won nattin yet but i think there might others? pls, can u help me with this dilemma.I just cant seem to remember if any other countries that fit this description?

...the only way to help you with your DILEMMA is...get yourself out, pick any event and begin to prepare for the next olympic...or get commited with your child...do something...

If my child got trained, any guarantees that child won't end up competing for Britain instead?

Quite frankly it should be the country that trained and developed him first and if he doesn't make the cut for the country he can consider other countries.

If that child isn't good enough for that country why should another serious country pick them up unless that country doesn't have a proper structure that develops it's own elite athletes?

[felarey]

In China, once you're good enough to compete in the olympics, you stop working and the govt pays you. All you would do is train train train.... In countries like Canada where you have so source for sponsorship and have a job to support yourself, it's showing on the medal table. In naija we have the talent, just need the support structure and sponsorship. Many Nigerians are representing other countries. Yet another zone we can succeed in once we get our acts together.

[fabio]

Same old story, every olympics....

[Oba]

Same old story, every olympics....

At least we had football to distract us, this time, we didn't even qualify.

[Oba]

In China, once you're good enough to compete in the olympics, you stop working and the govt pays you. All you would do is train train train.... In countries like Canada where you have so source for sponsorship and have a job to support yourself, it's showing on the medal table. In naija we have the talent, just need the support structure and sponsorship. Many Nigerians are representing other countries. Yet another zone we can succeed in once we get our acts together.

felarey, the state of our sports is not an issue in isolation. It is a further reflection of the state of Nigeria.

[Damunk]

How many countries fit this category? Indonesia n India havent won nattin yet but i think there might others? pls, can u help me with this dilemma.I just cant seem to remember if any other countries that fit this description?

...the only way to help you with your DILEMMA is...get yourself out, pick any event and begin to prepare for the next olympic...or get commited with your child...do something...

If my child got trained, any guarantees that child won't end up competing for Britain instead?

Quite frankly it should be the country that trained and developed him first and if he doesn't make the cut for the country he can consider other countries.

Not really. Most of our top sprinters in the 80s and 90s were Nigerians on US sports scholarships. So they got their elite training out there but didn't represent the US.
And they were top quality too.

[Damunk]

How many countries fit this category? Indonesia n India havent won nattin yet but i think there might others? pls, can u help me with this dilemma.I just cant seem to remember if any other countries that fit this description?

...the only way to help you with your DILEMMA is...get yourself out, pick any event and begin to prepare for the next olympic...or get commited with your child...do something...

If my child got trained, any guarantees that child won't end up competing for Britain instead?

Just before (actually, the day before) Chief Femi Olukanmi (IICC, Complete Football, NFA etc) died, he told me that he was working on a scheme to get corporates to invest in young Nigerians (at home and abroad) that were showing exceptional sports talent. He had even got the Williams sisters interested in mentoring young tennis players and had his eye on a young Nigerian female tennis prodigy here in the UK. Then he died.
The problem is that we just cant be trusted even if the resources are made available.

[Oba]

How many countries fit this category? Indonesia n India havent won nattin yet but i think there might others? pls, can u help me with this dilemma.I just cant seem to remember if any other countries that fit this description?

...the only way to help you with your DILEMMA is...get yourself out, pick any event and begin to prepare for the next olympic...or get commited with your child...do something...

If my child got trained, any guarantees that child won't end up competing for Britain instead?

Just before (actually, the day before) Chief Femi Olukanmi (IICC, Complete Football, NFA etc) died, he told me that he was working on a scheme to get corporates to invest in young Nigerians (at home and abroad) that were showing exceptional sports talent. He had even got the Williams sisters interested in mentoring young tennis players and had his eye on a young Nigerian female tennis prodigy here in the UK. Then he died.
The problem is that we just cant be trusted even if the resources are made available.

When people say 'get more money into sports', I think to myself... fine, that's a start, but if other things aren't in place, what that extra money may end up doing is boosting sales at Westfield Stratford City Shopping Mall. Maybe things have to completely implode and hit rock bottom before there's a chance for institutional change, because it seems we've perfected the art of sustaining the unsustainable!

[Chingo Bling]

Precisely AD and Soothsayer

The problem is structure, not coaching and players alone

Same goes for our football, when we lose people blame the coach, No, our attitude to sports must change

I remember in 2000, I was in Nigeria trying to raise a 7's Rugby team and I approached the sports ministry about the sport. I was told flat out that I was wasting my time, that Football is all what Nigeria is interested in now. My response was that if we build a team, Nigerians will support it. I was brushed off. I still believe in Nigerian Rugby and somehow, we have achieved the success of forming a Rugby Union which the likes of Victor Ubogu and Jeremy Guscott (Ex English players) are supporting

Just as with our resources, we must diversify our sports so we dont #$%$* every 4 yrs about 150 mil people and no medals

Totally support the idea of supporters clubs, the internet can be useful in this endeavor

If we the supporters cannot give our own best for the teams, then we have no right to complain

The bloke who said you were wasting your time by approaching the sports ministry is correct in part.
We can develop Rugby and other sports but we should try to keep the govt far away from them!
We have dozens of sports associations from Hockey to Handball, yet after decades of pumping money into them, they have not managed to get youngsters interested.
on the other hand the privately run sports in Naija (Polo, Sailing) are surviving and getting sponsorship.

[akamoke]

We weren't actually looking for monetary support at the time, we wanted recognition and the Government needed to be on board in terms of creating an association. That was the only way the International Rugby Football union will allocate funds to our association.

[folem]

How many countries fit this category? Indonesia n India havent won nattin yet but i think there might others? pls, can u help me with this dilemma.I just cant seem to remember if any other countries that fit this description?

Indonesia have 2 medals, India have won 3 medals.

Naija may win 1 today.