President of the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVF), Engineer Musa Nimrod, has identified the age bracket of 9-16 as an ideal time to discover players for the game, saying that talents need to be discovered early.
According to Nimrod, during the ages of 9-16 coaches and trainers focus more attention on talents, therefore a player with exceptional skill if discovered at that time and nurture could develop to become the pillar of the team.
He made this known last week Thursday in Abuja during a one day seminar organized by the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) FCT chapter at the Moshood Abiola Stadium. According to him ”in the sport of Volleyball, talents need to be discovered on time. When a prospective athlete is within the age bracket of 9- 16 and during this period such players can be a focus of attention by the coach or trainer. “A player with exceptional skill can be a pillar to a team if the player has the team work spirit.
He or she will be a leader in play, rallying the support of other team mates to build solid performances,’’ he said. The President of NVF, argued that if a team that has an exceptional player must do well, it’s imperative for such a team to understand and support any player with exceptional skill for maximum performances.
He explained that in modern Volleyball, there are players with specialised skills, however, the shortest player can be of great help like the tallest player. ”It all depends on the role they are playing. What is important however is the way and manner their individual talents are brought to harmony for the general output of the team,” he said. However, he stated that the youth’s game has offered them the opportunity to discover talents at that said age bracket which he said will help the federation reposition the game of volleyball in the country to equal the glorious days where volleyball was the delight of fans.