NYG 2023: Onyedum says team will maintain focus in spite of shift in date

Patrick-Estate Onyedum, the Chairman of Anambra State Sports Development Commission, on Monday said coaches and athletes of the state team will sustain preparations ahead of the 2023 National Youth Games (NYG), coming up in Asaba. The chairman, who commended the team for its intense training since camp opened about two weeks ago, noted that the postponement was coming with huge financial burden on the state. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the  Games, initially scheduled to hold from Sept. 7 to Sept. 17, had been postponed to a yet-to-be ascertained date. Onyedum urged the athletes and coaches to sustain discipline in the areas of training and dieting in order to maintain fitness and be in shape for exploits when the games eventually begin. “Two weeks is a long time at least for a team that is just trying to round off camping and about to depart, but we will not be distracted. “We are going to maintain focus, we will ensure that our coaches and athletes remain in top shape because we are going to Asaba to make a statement,” he said. Onyedum said the bulk of the athletes were those discovered at the just-concluded Anambra School Sports Festival. He said the NYG is a development programme, noting that the emphasis was not on medal haul but on providing a platform for the discovery of future national and international sports stars. “We are going to win medals like every other state but you can be rest assured that we are coming with promising stars most of whom were discovered at the school sports festival we held in June this year,” he said. Anambra would take part in 18 events –  Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Chess, Cricket, Gymnastics, Judo, Karate, Rugby, Scrabble, Swimming, Taekwondo, Table Tennis, Tennis, Volleyball, Wrestling, Weightlifting and Wushu Kung-Fu.