Sports

Excitement As 2022 Edition of Turf Arena PFA Games kick off on Tuesday

Published

4 years ago

November 20, 2022

..As Teams talk tough

Joel Ajayi

The teams will participates in the seven sports which include Football 7 aside, coed volleyball 6×6, Table tennis, Snooker, scrabble, Chess and team bonding games.
Speaking at the Press briefing and draw for the games on Saturday, the coordinator of Turf Arena Pension Fund Administration PFA Games Oladapo Oluwatope said every modality, measure are in place for the success of the games.

Speaking on the importance of the games, coordinator said the aim of the tournament is to bring pension Industry together to interact, share ideas, have fun and enjoying themselves.

According to him, we are looking forward for good atmosphere, team bonding between PFA’s. I know there is series of challenging amongst PFA where they have to complete for customers but this is just avenue for them to get to know each other’s, blend, have fun.

“The event starts November 22nd, Tuesday, it’s a five days event to end November 26th Saturday.

“The games will come up between hours of 5:30pm to 8:00pm every day, but the Saturday games Start 2:00pm in the afternoon where we open to have final where we are going to play a lot of team bonding games.”

Mr Oluwatope, then charged all the participating to be be punctual and abide by the rules, to have a smooth 2022 edition of the games.Speaking ahead of the games, the representative of FCMB pension Mr Biodun Akande boasted that the Premium Pension was crowned the champion of Turf Arena PFA football tournament last year simply because FCMB Pension was absent, saying everything are in place to dethrones them in 2nd edition.
“Unfortunately we are not in the last year games this will be our first time of participating.

“Our expectations, we expect a well organized event, so that aim and objectives of the games be achieve.

“In terms of personal expectations as a team, premium won last year because we were not here I am sure we are coming to displace them and dethrones them, I am sure.”

Also, the first runners up of the the 1st edition of the Turf Arena PFA football tournament Trust fund pension limited Henry Chuku Obasi vowed to gun for top position as second edition of the games kick of come Tuesday inside popular turf Arena sporting facility in the Federal Capital Territory Mr Chuks Obasi, said his team narrowly miss the top position last year but has put everything in place to ensure they come top this year.

However, the participating team include Trust pension Fund, Tangerine APT pension, Norrenberger Pensions, FCMB, Premium Pension, let play and others.

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Sports

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

Published

13 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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