Sports

Volleyball Leagues: Pindar dedicates trophies to Chief of Naval Staff

Published

4 years ago

October 30, 2022

The Coordinator of Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Spikers Volleyball Teams, Commodore Aliyu Pindar has dedicated the National Volleyball League Championship Trophies to the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo (CFR).

CNS Spikers women’s team won the National Division 1 Volleyball League while the men’s team lifted the National Division 2 Volleyball League on Friday.

Pindar told journalists that the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo (CFR) motivated the players and provided all the necessary logistics for them to excel.

The Chairman of FCT Volleyball Association revealed that the first step taken was to invite players for long camping exercise before exposing them to championships.

He said, “When the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo (CFR) came on board; he promised to reposition sports in the Nigerian Navy due to the long period of inactivities in sports in the Nigerian Navy over the years. Today, i beat my chest and say that the CNS has fulfilled his promise as our Sportsmen and Sportswomen are actively participating and representing States and Clubsides in National competitions/leagues in various sporting activities such as Volleyball, Football, Boxing, Judo/karate, Swimming, Polo, among others”.

“We give gratitude to the Chief of Naval Staff for the motivation, encouragement and unflinching support to the players. You can see the quality of the young players we brought in and have given them hope to know that there is prospect in the game of Volleyball”.

“Our success is also attributed to early camping and participation in various competitions. You could recall that based on the performance of CNS Spikers women’s team at the Kontagora championship, our team was nominated to represent Nigeria at the 2021 African Club Championship in Tunisia where the team made its first debut and defeated some notable teams from other African countries from Ethiopia & Cote D’IVoire despite appearing for the first time. We were proud because the last time a volleyball team from the Armed Forces was nominated to represent Nigeria was in 1984, that is 38 years ago. But the CNS Spikers Volleyball team has been able to break that jinx. The CNS Spikers Volleyball Club is prepared to represent the country again at international volleyball championships”.

“Today you can see the quality of players we paraded in the male and female categories which led to us winning the National Leagues (Division 1 and 2) topping. CNS Spikers volleyball teams were unbeaten in the first and second phase of the National Leagues; no team was able to beat them.

Pindar said CNS Spikers volleyball teams are ready for the challenge ahead in next year’s Nigeria Volleyball Premier League and National Division 1 Volleyball League.

He said, “The female team has moved to the Nigeria Volleyball Premier League while the male team has moved to Division 1. We are still going to beef up the teams and I can bet you that once we get to the Premier League, no team will be able to withstand us.

CNS Spikers won seven individual awards and they include: Most Valuable Player (male), Best Libero (male), Best blocker (male), Best Setter (male), Best Libero (female), Best blocker (female) and Best spiker (female).

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Sports

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

Published

3 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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