2021 NSF: Enugu coach urges boxers to raise bar in training

The Enugu State Boxing Coach, Blaise Ude, has urged the state boxers to raise the bar in training to enhance the state’s chances of wining laurels in the forthcoming National Sports Festival (NSF) Benin, Edo.

Ude gave the advice to the boxers on Thursday in Enugu after their morning training at the boxing gymnasium inside the Enugu State Sports Council.

The coach said the current date for the NSF still remained Feb. 14, 2021 and that the boxers had two weeks to prepare.

He told the boxers that their seriousness in training would give them the advantage of wining laurels at the NSF.

The coach said that the boxers had been in training since the first week of January after their break in December 2020.

“Normally, we have started training because we do not have to relent after the changes in date of the NSF owing to COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are keeping the boxers fit at the moment since 2020 when the authority lifted ban on sports.

“The chairman of Enugu State Boxing Association, Mr Osondu Ogbu, said that plans had been concluded to put the boxers in camp before the recent postponement of the festival.

“Our boxers’ morale are high at the moment and I told them to always encourage themselves as no one will do that for them,” he said.

Ude said that the boxers needed to up their training method to ensure good outing in the competition.

“Right now, we are training morning and night and it is only through training that the boxers can gain confidence for the festival,” the coach said.

He noted that the boxers would begin camping in Nsukka in the first week of February.

“Although we have not heard from the state government on the camping of the athletes, I pray that the chairman, Ogbu comes up with a bigger plan for the boxers toward the competition.

“Right now in camp, we have U-18 male and two female boxers in camp right now, and I believe that the state government will give them room to showcase their talent at the festival,” Ude said.