Sports

2022 Volleyball Nat Division 1, LMC Assures better league

Published

4 years ago

May 13, 2022

Joel Ajayi
The LMC Chairman, Committee chairman as well as second Vice President of the volleyball federation, Monica Ngozi Ezugwu has assured a better outing at the ongoing 2022 Volleyball National Division 1 League.

The event that is holding inside indoor basketball hall of Moshood Abiola Stadium Abuja package B will see 12 teams, male and female, compete for honour.

Speaking after their meeting on Friday, Mrs Ezugwu expressed that everything has been put in place to ensure success of the league.

According to her, we just had meeting with the coaches and the Referee on the new amendment that have just come in, in terms of both the clubs, registrations, relegations and clubs transfer .

“We were able to inform them that from next year, there is going to be some fees that will be paid if a player is going to move to another club and how the money is going to be shared between the club, player’s and federation, we have informed them.

“We have also encouraged the Referee to continue with their good work in terms of officiating, to ensure that the players and crowd who are watching, is satisfied with their officiating

“Also, we have inform all the coaches to ensure their players were well kitted because we have promised that this year division one league is going to come with surprises why because we have our young eaglet youth many of them are going to surprise the old players and I want to encourage the old clubs that they shouldn’t think that it’s going to be easy for them because the youth are very serious they are going to surprise the old players.” She assured.

On his own, the Technical Director of Volleyball Martin Menladi said the league is starting with the female matches.
“We have a total of 12 teams participating, 6 males and 6 females on ground .

“We are going to start the males matches on Saturday immediately after the first female match.”

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Sports

Plateau Vipers, Benue Queens Crowned Champions at HFN North Central Division One Tourney

Published

6 hours ago

October 3, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The President of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Jibril Seidu, has said the federation will continue to intensify its grassroots talent development drive through zonal competitions across the country.

Seidu stated this on Saturday in Abuja at the finals of the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship, where Plateau Vipers defeated Suleja Shooters 29-24 to emerge champions in the men’s category.

In the women’s final, Benue Queens of Makurdi defeated City Queens of Suleja to claim the title.

The eight-day tournament featured teams from across the North Central Zone, with Plateau Vipers of Jos, Confluence Stars of Lokoja, Unity Boys of Abuja, Suleja Shooters and Nasarawa Ambassadors of Lafia competing in the men’s category.

In the women’s category, Nuela Handball Academy of Ilorin, Inikpi Babes of Idah, Benue Queens of Makurdi and City Queens of Suleja competed for honours.

At the end of the competition, four teams — two male and two female — emerged as the North Central Zone’s representatives for the national Division One league.

According to Seidu, the tournament was organised as part of the federation’s deliberate strategy to take handball development back to the regions and discover talents that might otherwise remain unnoticed.

He said the HFN board, inaugurated on October 25, 2025, resolved that grassroots development was essential to creating a sustainable pipeline of players for national and international competitions.

“All the teams you have seen here are from the North Central Zone of the country, and every state is represented with an academy or state team,” he said.

Seidu explained that the new approach marked a departure from the previous system, where talent identification was largely centred on the federation’s major league competitions.

He said taking competitions to the regions would provide young players with greater opportunities to showcase their abilities while strengthening the foundation of handball across the country.

The HFN president also linked the grassroots initiative to Nigeria’s recent achievements in international handball, stressing the need to develop younger players who can eventually replace members of the current national teams.

He noted that Nigeria had qualified for the 2027 Men’s Junior Handball World Championship in North Macedonia, describing the achievement as evidence of the potential within the country’s handball system.

“How do we replace these players with upcoming players? This is the avenue for us to get players,” he said.

Seidu added that the federation was determined to make handball more visible and accessible, describing it as one of Nigeria’s major sporting disciplines with significant potential for growth.

The North Central tournament is part of a wider zonal programme designed to decentralise handball development across Nigeria.

According to the federation, similar competitions are being organised across other zones, including the South East, North East, North West and South South, with qualifiers from each zone expected to converge at a designated venue for the next stage of the competition.

The federation also appealed for greater support from sponsors, stakeholders and state associations to sustain its grassroots development programme.

It expressed appreciation to the participating states, academies, team sponsors and other stakeholders for their support and commitment to the growth of handball in Nigeria.

The federation said the initiative would provide a platform for discovering the next generation of Nigerian handball stars while expanding the sport’s reach beyond its traditional centres.
While Speaking the elated coach of Benue Queen Godwin Tondo has promised a stronger and more tactical performance after guiding the team to victory at the 2026 North Central Division One Handball Championship in Abuja.
He attributed the success to the team’s long-term youth development programme, noting that the squad was built through a deliberate process of identifying and nurturing young talents.
According to him, the programme began with the selection of 92 girls from secondary schools, who were subsequently trained and developed over a four-year period.

He said the team’s success was a product of sustained hard work and commitment despite the challenges encountered during preparations for the tournament.

“I feel very pleased being a champion today. The road to this stage was very, very hard, but I am very happy that we have got the result from all the toughness of the game,” he said.

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