We need to invest more in grassroots sports – Chukwumerije

President of Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation (CCSF) Chika Chukwumerije has said Nigeria must invest more in grassroots sports in order to unravel new talents who will take over from aged athletes.

Chukwumerije said this while responding to questions from journalists at the 2017 CCSF Taekwondo Prix Series in Abuja at the weekend.

While pointing out that the cadets and junior categories of Taekwondo had been ignored for too long, he expressed dismay that the athletes hardly have the chance to compete in competitions.

“It is so sad that we have so many talented athletes but they are just training without having competitions to compete in”, he lamented.

151 athletes comprising 101 males and 51 females slugged it out at the 2017 Taekwondo Prix Series organised by his foundation at the weekend.

The two-day event which took place at the Old Parade Ground Sporting centre in Abuja had participants drawn from 29 teams across 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

He said the grassroot competition was aimed at unraveling talents who could be groomed to represent the country in future international championships.

Chukwumerije who disclosed that the competition was the foundation’s second this year, added that it will stage two more before the end of the year- on September 8th and 9th and December 15th and 16th.

“With this competition, we have realised that we need to bring more players in, in the cadets and junior categories because only few of them registered”, he added.