Sports
Wikki Tourists’ Pre-Season Form Excites Boss
Wikki Tourists boss, Usman Abd’Allah has hailed the contributions of his players and other backroom staff in their effort to raise a formidable team that will be good enough to compete for the Nigeria Professional Football League title or grab a continental ticket at the end of the season.
The Giant Elephants held Katsina United to a goalless draw on Monday in the Governor Masari Pre-season Tournament and Abd’Allah informed the tourney’s media team that he is gradually building a team that will be able to compete with any team in the topflight.
He said that he had spelt out areas they must improve on especially ensuring that the strikers are more potent in front of goal and he noted that the tournament will belp boost the fitness level of his players.
“The essence of preseason friendlies are to help boost the fitness level of the players, cohesion of the team and the integration of the new players. We still have some work to do maybe with the finishing part because we have been creating chances,” Abd’Allah informed Governor Masari Pre-season Tournament Media.
“Generally I will say it is impressive what we have been able to achieve thus far with a new team a relatively low budget. Football is all about winning. We were unlucky to miss the last minute chance that hit the frame of the goal post because had it gone in it would have been 1-0 and the whole story would have been different.
“It is fair because Katsina United came with virtually a new team that was divided into two teams. They have done well and the game would have gone either side. We are happy no violence in the game.”
The former Enyimba coach thumbed up the organisers of the Governor Masari Preseason Tournament but still pointed areas that must be improve on to make the tournament international standard in the next edition.
“It is fantastic that within a short frame of time they have been able to organise this and set it up I’m very impressed with it. I hope that next season when we shall come for the Governor Masari Pre-season Tournament again, I think by then the whole nation will be here.
“I also hope that we are going to be having referees from other states as from the next edition of the tournament.
“We are hoping to come out with good results and if we win it, it will be a morale booster. We are hoping to compete favourably with other teams in the league and it will be a delight to either win the league or qualify the team for the continent,” he concluded.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.
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