MTN Champs, Nigeria’s largest grassroots athletics competition, is designed to discover and nurture young talent with the potential to represent the country on the world stage. For many athletes, the competition provides a vital platform to showcase their skills and compete at a high level. Queen Nwika, a student from Birabi Memorial Grammar School in Port Harcourt, was one such athlete who made the most of this opportunity. Competing for the first time at the MTN Champs Grand Final in Uyo, Queen won gold in both the Triple Jump and Long Jump events, marking an impressive start in her athletic career.
Coach Gift Opurum is the man championing Queen’s success. A former athlete himself, Opurum transitioned into coaching after completing a world coaching course. Having always been passionate about athletics, he chose to focus his efforts on training athletes from the grassroots level, hoping to help others reach the heights he wasn’t able to. “As an athlete, I didn’t get to the Olympic stage, so I decided to train people that will become Olympians and world bests,” he said. “Queen is just a secondary school student, but I’m hoping that by next year, she can go even further.”
Also read: MTN Champs: Shaping Nigeria’s Future Olympians
The path to success for young athletes in Nigeria is often fraught with challenges. Financial difficulties, lack of family support, and the high cost of training and competitions are just a few of the obstacles they face. Coach Opurum has witnessed these struggles firsthand, as many of his athletes have either dropped out or been discouraged by the demands of the sport.
“Queen is not my first athlete. Some athletes come and go. Some have been discouraged by finances, parents and friends,” he explained. “For Queen, I sought the attention of her parents and talked them into understanding. She also gave everything. I was sure she would do well, so I had to bring her. And as she’s done this, I know it will spur her to do even better.”
MTN Champs plays an important role in helping coaches like Opurum discover and develop talent from the grassroots level. The competition provides a vital opportunity for young athletes to gain exposure, refine their skills, and compete against some of the best emerging talents in the country. For Opurum, the success of athletes like Queen is proof that with the right guidance, Nigerian athletes can go on to achieve great things.
As Coach Opurum continues to guide athletes like Queen, his focus remains on the bigger picture: developing the next generation of Nigerian Olympians. On the necessary qualities for building champions, he said: “Athletes should have commitment, dedication and a hunger to become a champion. A coach should have the desire to get their athlete at the top stage. As a coach, my utmost desire is to train people who will do far better than I did.”
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