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Nigeria’s U-18, U-20 Women’s Handball Teams Hit Camp For IHF Tourney

Our Reporters1 week ago1 week ago04 mins

Nigeria’s Under 18 and 20 Women Handball teams have opened training camp in Lagos ahead of the IHF Trophy’s Women Zonal Phase slated between 20th and 24th of April in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The National Under 18 women’s team led by Coach John Uzor and the Under 20 women’s team led by Coach Adewunmi Agbola Shittu are at the Rowe Park Sports Centre, Yaba, Lagos wherein they are undergoing intensive training for the competition which is the first hurdle in the IHF Women’s Trophy calendar for the year. The Under 20 team is made up of the Under 18 team that made Nigeria proud by qualifying for the World Cup for the first time ever in the history of the country. Some of the players are; Kehinde Babatunde of ASPAC HBC of Benin Republic and her twin sister Taiwo Babatunde who plays for Seasider Babes of Lagos, Esther Mathew of ADDIDJA HBC of Benin Republic and Rahima Bello who plays for KIRYATONO HBC of ISRAEL. Others are; the Samuel Sisters (Prudence and Precious), Chidera Ogbusimba, Amina Mohammed and Joy Peters all from RIMA Queens of Sokoto as well as Damilola Akinlade of Rivers Queens, Omole Joy of Rivers Queens, Taiwo Islamiat of Seasiders babes and Oluwalade Phoebe of Ekiti. For Coach Shittu, it is not a new experience as his present Under 20 Women’s team were the successful Under 18 team that he led to finish second in the IHF Women’s Trophy Intercontinental Phase in Tashkent, Uzbekistan last year, representing Africa following their success in the zonal and continental phase. Coach Shittu, however believed it is a different situation, saying this is the first Nigeria would be participating in the Junior category (Under 20) of the competition as it will be a new experience for the players. For Coach John Uzor, the Under 18 team wants to surpass the record set by their predessesors, stressing that the country would have the best players to do so. “We are entering into a big shoe worn by our elder sisters who are now in the Under 20 category and we must maintain and even surpass their standards. We have the best crops of players to overcome in Cote’d’Voire,” Coach John assured. The two teams must win the zonal phase in Abidjan to qualify for the continental phase later this year.

National Teams will give Nigerians joy in Year 2025 – Gusau

Our Reporters4 months ago4 months ago06 mins

President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau MON, on Monday assured ball fans, administrators and Nigerians in general that the football-governing body will adequately prepare the various National Teams to bring joy and glory to the nation in the coming year. While reflecting on the outgoing year 2024 and projecting for the coming year 2025, Gusau, still delighted with the Super Eagles’ nonchalant dismantling of Ghana’s Black Galaxies to qualify for the 8th African Nations Championship, disclosed that the focus of the NFF is on ensuring the adequate preparation of all National Teams to credibly compete for honours at major tournaments, and not simply turn up to make up the number. “The era of Nigerian teams arriving at major championships just to participate is gone. Our objective now is to ensure that our teams can strongly contend for honours anywhere, and that can only be done by preparing the teams well ahead of qualifiers and competitions. I personally insisted that the Super Eagles B start their camping early enough and the result is what we can see in their display against Ghana. “The team has just one month to go before the CHAN tournament. That means they must go into camp immediately, and we will ensure that.” Gusau remarked that the outgoing year saw some impressive outings by the National Teams, though he is of the view that the Super Eagles’ under-par run in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers has been a source of worry to administrators, enthusiasts and fans alike. “Our commitment is to see how we can cobble back that Super Eagles squad that did the nation proud at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, coming within 23 minutes of lifting the trophy. If we can find a way to do that, we can be sure that the target of winning the six remaining matches in the qualifiers to gain automatic qualification to the World Cup is achievable. “Getting that FIFA World Cup ticket will set the momentum for a sterling outing at the AFCON in Morocco later in the year.” The NFF supremo also assured that the Super Falcons, who finished the year 2024 as Africa’s best-ranked team, will be afforded adequate preparation to reclaim the Women Africa Cup of Nations title in Morocco next summer. “We are in the process of organizing more friendly games for the team, in order to properly blend the old and new players to a formidable squad that will conquer Africa in style.” While praising the junior women national teams (Falconets and Flamingos) for their qualifications and participations at their different FIFA World Cup competitions this year, Gusau charged the girls to see the coming year as a period of consolidation, with the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals becoming an annual event. “The Flamingos, no doubt, have the ability to conquer the world. I have watched their matches and seen some real great talents who can even hold their own in the Super Falcons. However, we want to see them conquer the world in Morocco and bring home the U17 Women’s World Cup for the first time. The Falconets also have qualification matches to the 2026 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup to deal with. “For sure, it is a very busy year for us and for world football. The NFF is committed to working closely with the National Sports Commission to realize our goals and objectives, and also seek greater corporate support for our activities, programs and events. Our attention will remain on developing the game from the grassroots while ensuring that the production channels for players coming through to the National Teams are not disrupted.”