Global Trends
The leading sports countries have
established special structures of facilities, funding, training, high performance centres, nutrition, medicine, and
sports sciences through schools, including special schools, training camps, scholarships and various
incentives for their sports development. The leading countries in the various continents are as follows:
•
Africa - Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa
•
Americas - USA, Cuba, Brazil, Jamaica and Canada
•
Asia - China, Japan, Korea and India
•
Europe- Great Britain, Russia,
Germany and Spain
•
Oceania - Australia
Global developments that have impacted sports
include:
•
Concentration
of some countries in certain sports
•
Emphases on
early identification and scientific training for athletes and coaches
•
Change of
nationality by some competitors which had produced international honours for some countries that have no tradition of winning in
those sports.
In the last two decades, these
countries have constantly dominated global sports, (especially in certain sports), provision of infrastructure and
organizational structures. The countries are as follows:
• USA - Athletics,
swimming, basketball, boxing; baseball
and softball, golf, cycling, women
football, tennis, synchronised swimming, organisation and Infrastructure
•
China - Table tennis, judo,
karate, athletics, gymnastics, badminton, basketball, swimming, synchronised swimming, organization and
infrastructure
•
Russia. - Gymnastics, athletics,
basketball, boxing, volleyball,
tennis and synchronised
swimming
•
Kenya - Middle and long distance
races
•
Ethiopia - Long distance races
• South Africa
- Sports organization, cricket, rugby and
infrastructure
•
Egypt - Football, organization,
administration and infrastructure
•
Cuba - Athletics, amateur boxing
and volleyball
•
Brazil - Football and volleyball
•
Japan - Information
Communication and echnology, martial
arts, baseball, and judo
•
South Korea - Information Communication and Technology, and
martial arts
•
India - Organization and cricket
•
Canada - Administration,
organization and infrastructure
•
Great Britain- Athletics,
cycling, equestrian sports, rugby, cricket and swimming
•
Australia - Athletics, swimming, cycling, cricket and rowing
•
Germany - Football, athletics and tennis
•
Spain - Football and tennis.
In the aforementioned countries,
sports has also become a major contributor to economic development. In comparing the trends between the
2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, the following were
noticed:
•
Widening gap
among winners of the Olympic Games
•
Emergence of
new leaders on the medals table
•
Decline of
some other countries.
The countries that experienced increase in
performance were China,. Great Britain and Germany. The USA, Russia, Australia and Japan, either
stagnated or declined. (See Olympic Games medals tables for
2008 and 2004 Olympics and, Diagrams 1 and 2).
For the African countries; Kenya, Ethiopia and
Zimbabwe experienced significant increase in performance between 2004 and 2008 Olympics. Nigeria's position improved
marginally from 68th to 61st
globally. (See Olympic Games medals Chart indicating
performance of African Countries at Appendixes i, Diagrams 1,
2, 3 and 4).
·
Talent
identification and development as bases for selecting elite athletes
·
Facilities
and infrastructure to enhance mass participation and hosting of competitions
·
Funding that
is adequate and timely released to support all areas of sports development
·
Human
capacity building and utilization that align with the national goals for sports
and economic development
·
Rewards/Incentives
to motivate athletes and officials
·
Sports
science and medicine for proper care, nurture and scientific development of
athletes
·
National and
international competitions to afford athletes opportunities to win laurels and enhance Nigeria's image
·
Sports and
tourism
·
Indigenous
sports
·
Para-sports
(physically challenged)