Sports
ICC Applauds Nigeria Cricket Federation Over Criio Women Festival Initiative
International Cricket Council, ICC , has heaped huge praises on the Nigeria Cricket Federation over the successful inaugural Criio event, an initiative put in place to increase number of women participation in Cricket.
The maiden Criiio Festival aimed at promoting cricket among the women in the country will hold in Abuja where over 400 school girls from 17 schools across the length and breath converged at Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja to had fun-filled event.
While speaking yesterday in Abuja, the ICC Women’s Cricket Officer, Amna Rafiq expressed satisfaction over successful launched of the inaugural edition of Criio Women’s Cricket Festival saying that Nigeria has huge potentials to be among the best country in the world.
According to her, Nigeria Cricket Federation have today launched their Women’s Cricket Festival, which is part of a pilot that the ICC are doing with ten of the members.
“And it’s so great to see so many women and girls out here trying cricket, picking up a baton ball for the first time for the majority of them. And just simply having fun, and that’s really good to see.
“We’ve heard from data and research that women are not picking up a baton ball, and that’s what we’re out here to do. We’re on a mission.
“By 2029, NCF got plan to get a million women and girls playing the game. So, yeah, it’s a really exciting.
“These young girls here today are a bit of a pathway to see and aspire to be at a future World Cup, so far, Nigeria has huge potentials to be among the best country in the world”
She, however, said that ICC will do everything possible to ensure it provide needed equipment for member nation that will further grow the games of Cricket in the world.
While speaking after the event President of Federation, Uyi Akpata said, the objective of creating more awareness for game has been achieved.
He said: “The festival exceeded the federation expectation, it meet its purpose, because if you look round, you will see that there is right atmosphere for girls to enjoy the game of cricket.
“We are going to do more with backing of FCT Education Board we just need to go out there and make cricket the most population game in fct and to the rest of Nigeria”, he promised.
Sports
Plateau Vipers, Benue Queens Crowned Champions at HFN North Central Division One Tourney
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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