Sports is an integral part of education. Commonly called Physical Education (PE) in most institutions of learning, it is an aspect of human engagement that facilitates healthy mind in a healthy body which, and by extension, makes for alertness among the pupils.
In the days gone by, sports as a practice in institutions of learning were more of an exclusive preserve of male students while the females who were privileged to be in school, formed the group of spectators clapping for the gladiators in the arena.
In female intitutions back in the days, the most the students could take part in was in the main, net ball which was a female sport stereotype. Others that could not count for much were such events as needle and trade, orange and spoon as well as sack races which were also non-competitive.
Presently, the norm is fast becoming an exception. Female students are rapidly getting involved in sports such that quite a handsome number of them who dared, has gone professional in the various branches of the spectacle, like football, basketball, athletics, wrestling, swimming, among others.
Despite, the appreciable strides already recorded in sports within the female meliue, it has remained a huge challenge pushing the frontiers in the female institutions over the years. This may be attributable to culture, mind-set as well as primudial belief system in many parts of the Nigerian society that tend to subsume the female folkes in the societal value system of our clime.
Because, there is the assumption that women are weak by the circumstance of their anatomical make-up, society also tends to frown at their participation in such difficult tasks presented by sporting activities. By this disposition, even the female institutions become and or remain discouraged from designing programmes that will bolster sports among them.
As there is this existing and present confrontation with accessing the way forward in developing sports in the female institutions, it is needful for those who manage sports in such institutions to as a matter of necessity, scrounge for real solutions and identify the actual challenges facing these institutions as regards sports across the country.
One way of charting the way forward is developing the political will to engage the relevant authorities in the process of capacity building for the growth of sports in the said institutions. In doing so, emphasis must be on necessary infrastructural building and the cocommitant development within such institutions.
Efforts have to be geared towards scouting for, and engaging specialists in talent identification and proper honing of the female sports talents in the said institutions. There is the need to make it a priority that special care and attention must be given to those already identified as possessing the latent talent to excel in any sporting province.
The need for mentoring in this project must not be ignored. Priority should be given to searching for the female achievers in sports, whose presence, appearance and antecedent can inspire any female aspiring to perform well in any sporting challenge. Such female sports icons as sprinter, Mary Oynali Omagbemi, 400 metres Olympic medalist, Falilat Ogunkoya and Olympic Long Jump gold medalist, Chioma Ajunwa and their likes can come in handy as real role models and psychological boost for female up and coming athletes any day.
Beyond and above all, it is pertinent to suggest that a constant, consistent and periodical interactive sessions should be facilitated between these accomplished athletes and the students of female institutions where they will be engaging each other in a robust impartation and exchange of ideas in order to deepen, extend and expand the interest of the budding female athletes in the subject matter; sports.
With the right incentive in place and a good measure of sense of purpose, the sky will certainly be the starting point (not the limit) for sports in female institutions.
