Nigeria’s U-20 handball team coach, Shittu Agboola, has revealed that the team is ready to make the country proud at the IHF Women’s Trophy Zonal Phase, which is set to be held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The tournament is set to kick off from April 20th to 24th.
The Nigeria Handball Federation released the team list for the competition on Thursday, as the U-18 and U-20 teams prepare to represent Nigeria.
The two teams have been training at the Rowe Park Sports Centre, Yaba, Lagos, for close to two weeks and have decided to streamline their lists to 14 players as they prepare to travel to Abidjan for the competition.
The teams left Lagos, Nigeria, on Thursday morning en route to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, for the competition.
Coach John Uzor of the National Under-18 team has included Omole Joy of Defender Babes and her sister Omole Shola alongside Ojie Princess of Funad Academy, alongside right back Faisat Balogun in the mix, while Success Duru, Chetachi Ngaodurubie of COAS Babes, and Sharon Okonkwo made the cut among others.
In the under-20 team, Coach Shittu Agboola has largely stuck with the players he has been grooming since their under-18 days.
The team is led by Captain Chidera Ogbusimba alongside her Rima Queens teammates, the Samuel Sisters, Amina Mohammed and Joy Peters.
Israel-based Rahima Bello, Kehinde Babatunde of ASPAC HBC of Benin Republic, and Esther Mathew, who is also based in Benin Republic, kept their places.
Despite not having their key player Taiwo Babatunde due to her school, Yaba College of Technology, refusing to release her for national service. Coach Shittu believes his team will make Nigeria proud just as they did previously at the under-18 level.
He said, “I am really upset that Taiwo Babatunde will not be part of the team for this competition because her school, Yaba College of Technology, insisted that they will not release her for national service because of examinations. We did everything humanly possible to secure her release, and they didn’t care that it is a national service for the interest of Nigeria and the growth of sports.
“We have other players who are also students, and they got a release from their schools, but for no tangible reason, Yabatech refused to release Taiwo despite the fact that we did everything possible to secure her release. It’s sad, and I hope the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Sports Commission will work in tandem so that schools will support our goal of making Nigeria proud in sporting events.
“Regardless, we still have the core of the team, and I believe we’ll do well at the IHF Women’s Trophy Zonal Phase Championship in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.”
In the Youth (Under 18) category, Nigeria is in group A alongside Ghana, Togo, and Burkina Faso, and they will begin their campaign against Togo on Sunday at 11 am Afterwards, they will play Burkina Faso on Monday at 9 am and then play Ghana on Tuesday at 11 am.
Nigeria’s Under-20 team are in Group B alongside the Benin Republic and Togo. They will begin their campaign on Monday against Togo at 3 pm and then play the Benin Republic on Tuesday at 3 pm.
All the matches will be played at the Salle polyvalente des parcs de sport de Treichville (Multipurpose Sports Hall), Abidjan.
NATIONAL UNDER-18 GIRLS TEAM LIST Omole Joy, Ngaodurubie Chetachi Angela, Omole Shola, Sharon Okonkwo, Ojie Princess, Nestor Abigail, Balogun Faisat, Audu Salamatu, Mohammed Balikis, Duru Success, Oluwalade Phebe, Adebayo Aliya, Peter Sarah, and Treasure Mike Osagie.
