The Kickboxing Federation of Nigeria (KBFN) has organised a one-week workshop and championship to expose coaches, referees and athletes to the new rules and techniques of the sport.
The technical director, KBFN, Kevin Onyika, in an interview with Sporting Tribune in Abuja, said the 50 participants were trained to impart new knowledge of kickboxing to the participants so they can as well pass it to others who do not have the privilege of coming for the program in Abuja.
According to Onyika, it is a regular event with a focus on the coaches who are expected to transfer their skills to the athletes. He stated that kickboxing is a dynamic sport where new rules, new techniques and new tactics come up every day.
“The tournament was a one-week program running from April 15. It was a week-long activity and it is a workshop cum championship. We started with the workshop and ended with the championship. The workshop is like a theoretical aspect of it where you have a class and then you have to come and put it into practice with the championship.
“The focus of the event is on the coaches. Our intention is to develop the coaches for them to impart to the athletes. It is tailored to ‘training the trainers’ which is very key in any developmental program. You can have all the athletes assemble in a particular place. But by training the coaches, they will surely go back to impart the knowledge gained to the athletes.
“It is a regular event for us in the Federation that once in a while, we bring the coaches from different locations, update them with the new rules about the sports, give them new technical knowledge so that they will be able to know what is in vogue in terms of training the athletes because (kickboxing) is dynamic sports and new techniques, new rules are coming up every day.
“There are some of us who are into research, developing new tactics and new skills. We have an avenue where we have to share the knowledge we have by bringing instructors to come and share and impart to the athletes and this is a regular event for us. It will help us to develop, create awareness and do more to promote the sports.
“Altogether, we have about 20 coaches involved in the training and 30 athletes making 50 participants who were part of the program,” Onyika told Sporting Tribune.