Sports

My Priority Is To Make Olympic Hybrid FC World-Class Club- President

Published

4 years ago

July 25, 2022

…As Olympic Hybrid Club Secures Nationwide NLO Division 2 Ticket

Joel Ajayi

The hardworking Abuja-based football club, known as Olympic hybrid FC on Saturday secured promotion into the Nigeria Nationwide division 2 league.

The unbeaten Olympic Hybrid secured the slot after they played 4 games and win all four games.

In the first game, Olympic hybrid pummelled WACO FC of Abuja 4-0, went ahead to defeat Adamawa feeders 5-1

It was another victory for Olympic Hybrid as they beat Rivaldo FC 2-1 in the third game while they also thrashed Daniel Soccer 2-0 to win all the games without any single defeat.

While speaking, the elated president of the club, Ishiekwene Daniel said his desire is to turn Olympic Hybrid into a world-class club.

According to him, the reason we join the league is to help the many young talents who have no opportunity, we want to pick them, and nurture them to the podium.

“The promotion we got shows the level of commitment, and the growth of the club within the shortest period of time, most of the players are here in less than two years, some 1 year, apart from the one that travel is just because we have a system that is working.

“We ensure they are together, we try to add education and they socialize together that show in there in the tournament.

“We want to come up strong at division two, that is why we are partnering with many companies, in the area of transportation, logistic, kits, and many others, and by the time we resume, we will launch our new kits, we want to get better and before the league start, we shall be ready fully for the league.

“There is so much talent, but there is no platform to develop them, that is why we are doing it.

“Abuja is our base, we can now go to nooks and crannies of Nigeria to discover the talents.”

Speaking on the exploit, the President expressed said: “as we speak now some of our players are in Europe playing, they are making the living, that is why we are working hard to ensure we put smiles on the faces of many young Nigerian.” He said.

Also, in his remark, the head coach of Olympic Hybrid Patrick Bassey said that the players have done well, they listen to the instructions on and off the field thanked God, they made it to NLO 2.

According to him, the Olympic Hybrid team is not up to three years from now, the boys gradually improve from one stage to another, if they did not relent they will go far in their football career.

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Sports

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

Published

14 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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