Sports

Nasarawa gets nod to host 2024 National Skating Championship

Published

3 years ago

December 3, 2023

Nasarawa State has gotten the nod to host the 2024 National Skating championship after successful hosting of the maiden event in Abuja.

President of the Skating Federation of Nigeria (SFN), Abdullahi Maikano said this on Saturday at the closing of the maiden edition of the National Skating championship.

The event took place on the service lane of the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua expressway, near the Abuja City Gate.

Maikano said a specific date and month would be announced soon when the championship would hold next year.
According to him 20 states including Abuja participated in the just concluded first edition.

“We thank God for the success of this championship; we will work to correct our lapses to make the next edition more interesting.

“We thank all participants (skaters) and their coaches for honouring this championship,” he said

Maikano said the federation was leaving no stone unturned to get sponsors to enable them organise more competitions for skaters.

“We are looking for sponsorship that will make us sustain the championship.
“We need to organise more competitions to make our skaters ready for any international competition.
“We are looking forward to participating in continental events, World Cup and Olympics,” he said.

He said the federation would soon release the lineup of their programme for the 2024.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, commended Maikano for organising a successful championship.
“We must know that sports is a unifying factor that gives us sense of one purpose and togetherness.

“We want everyone to join hands with the armed forces and other security agents to make Nigeria peaceful.

“I was about three years old when I started to participate in skating; we want to encourage parents and guarding to encourage their children to participate in the sport,” he said.

Reports have it that Delta, Rivers, Nasarawa, Kebbi and Kaduna state are among the 20 states that participated in the championship.

Participants were made to skate from the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja to the end of the service lane that led to the package B of the Moshood Abiola Stadium, near the Abuja City Gate.
(NAN)

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Sports

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

Published

18 mins 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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