Sports

500 Children To Dazzles, As 15th Edition Of TIG Club Begins in Abuja

Published

2 years ago

December 4, 2024

Joel Ajayi

After 14th successful seasons, Tony International gymnastics TIG club Abuja Nigeria has commenced Activities for the Fifteen edition where over 500 children across 17 secondary schools and gymnastics club will be taken part in the one-week long event to celebrate another year of greatness for the club.

The event, put in place by the TIG Club of Abuja commenced on Tuesday at Transcorp Hilton hotel over 40 children beginners were thought the game of gymnastics was grand finale for this year’s event slated for Sunday the 8th of December 2024 at Moshood Abiola National Stadium Abuja.

Speaking at the event on Tuesday in Abuja the founder of TIG international gymnastics club, Anthony Asuquo said essence of the event is catch them young and prepare them for the future.

According to him, “Our commitment to the nation is to support and create credible platforms that can contribute to the development of the country. And we are committed to developing a pool of young gymnasts talents.

“The aim of this event is to catch them young, we can’t stop catching them young, we have been doing this for several years and this edition is going to be in different four 4 venues, so that we don’t have too much crowd at the stadium.

“We are expecting over 500 children in the 15th edition and then this is huge, we decided to space them all around, very beginners are here over 40 of them at Transcorp Hilton they have done their show on Tuesday.

“We will continue on Wednesday that American School compound and on Thursday we will be at National Stadium where we are going to have 17 Schools coming with children.

“On Friday we have Julius Berger with about 100 children and we have the big competition on Sunday where we have national gymnasts where everybody will come from different places to compete.

“Catching them young is the best thing so that we can have replacement and good talents in future.

“And I am impressed with the performance of the children so far. children who don’t do gymnastics before were all here we thought them how to do it and they are doing it.”

Asuquo who is currently the only international certified Aerobic Gymnastics Coach in Nigeria said some of his gymnasts have represented Nigeria in Big championships like Singapore, South Africa, Greece and many others.

.Asuquo emphasized TIG’s commitment to providing international exposure for Nigerian athletes despite economic challenges.

“We work hard to give our athletes the opportunities they need. Although we hoped to bring a full team, current circumstances made it difficult.”

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Sports

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

Published

16 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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