Sports
Excitement, Elite Soccer Academy, Britarch Int School Organizes Mini-Football Tourney For Children In FCT
Elite Soccer Academy powered by Hon Kong based Nigerian coach, Tunde Olokigbe or mostly called coach Tunde partnered with one of the top private schools in Abuja, Britarch International School to organise a mini-football tournament for kids in the Federal Capital Territory over the weekend.
The mini-football tournament which took place at the Britarch International school playing field was indeed a gathering of kids from age 3 to 10 showcasing their football skills to the admiration of the parents, spectators and even the coaches.
The football artistry of the kids actually gave credence to the coaching ability of Elite Soccer Academy who has been taking them through latest football drills the last three months.
And speaking with our correspondent about the event of the day, coach Tunde said:
“We are here to promote football at the early age because we have realize that this is where we are missing it in Nigeria. We hardly concentrate in kids in the primary or early secondary schools. Our attention is mostly on the senior boys which does not help our football development.
“So, what we are trying to do is to catch them from the very early age so that whatever they know starting from now will stay with them.”
Coach Tunde expressed satisfaction with the turnout and display of the kids at the mini football tournament. “It has been great to be honest, and this is because when you look their performances there has been a great improvement. Most of them have not seen serious training like before but just three months that we began you can see their improvement,”.
Meanwhile, the school Director, Chihi Orioha express satisfaction partnering with Elite Soccer Academy noting that their professionalism in the way they go about attending to the kids is second to non in the country.
“When he proposed to work with us I had to go read his profile and also did some background check on him. I saw that he started in Hon Kong and has a very good track record. However, I had not really tried him. So last term we gave him the opportunity to come and run the school Academy and his professionalism is second to none. I mean, you should the training session. Imagine a pilot, something you are doing for the first time. You know the parents are always apprehensive when it comes to allowing their kids join Academies for the first time, but in the first pilot he manage to get on board over a hundred children in the Academy. It’s record breaking.
“This is purely because of the way they organise themselves, they are poised, their attention to details is second to none. What they gave this children in the Academy in my opinion is a lot more than what the parents are actually paying for,” she said
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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