Sports
Lagos To Host Sitting Volleyball Championship
Lagos is set to score another first by hosting the maiden Legacy Sitting Volleyball Championship at the Indoor Sports Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere. The event starts tomorrow.
Secretary-General of Nigeria Sitting Volleyball Federation/Nigeria Paravolley Federation, Ademola Johnson, in a statement, said the championship is being organised in conjunction with the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC).
Sitting volleyball is a form of volleyball for athletes with disability. As opposed to standing volleyball, in sitting volleyball, players must be sitting on the floor during the game.
Johnson said the championship is an invitational tournament and first of its kind billed to help develop sitting/paravolley sport in Nigeria. Director of Para Sports Department, Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Peter Nelson, also said the championship is a meaningful developmental process towards popularising sitting/paravolleying, amongst other para-sports. He also applauded the sponsors for supporting sitting volleyball.
“This tournament will create an opportunity for reuniting and interaction among stakeholders and unveiling of the new Nigeria Paravolley Federation Referee Association, the Nigeria ParaVolley Coaches Association and other tools that will keep the federation working.
“Interestingly, the three invited teams from states’ sitting volleyball associations from Kaduna, Bayelsa and Lagos have reassured the federation of their participation in the maiden edition,” he said.
Chairman of Legacy Volleyball Club, Lagos and board member, Lagos State Volleyball Association, Kayode Ladele, promised that the backlog of four years unpaid yearly affiliation subscription fees of category “C” worth Euro 220 per year, would be offset. He said this would enable Nigeria regain financial membership with World ParaVolley for Team Nigeria paravolley to participate in international/world championship.
“This is new hope at resuscitating our enviable sport with frequent lines of both local and international events,” he said.
According to him, the aim of the organisers is to further promote the sport like other sports. “The championship will help build a formidable team that will represent the state at both national and international tournaments.
“Sitting volleyball is not a new game, but just finding its feet in Nigeria. The sport has been in existence for a long time; it requires almost the same techniques as the normal volleyball, except that the game is played by the physically-challenged persons,” he added.
Participating teams are expected to arrive in Lagos today, while competition proper starts tomorrow and ends on June 18 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere.
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.