HFN holds national championship for youths

The Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN) has finalised plans to host the National under 12 and Under 18 Championship at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports Centre, Rowe Park, Lagos from April 6 to 15. 

At the press conference held yesterday, President of the HFN, Sam Ocheho, said that the competition, which will have teams from the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja,  is meant to kick start the revolution of the game in the country. 

Ocheho stated that the expectation of the HFN is that the competition would to the discovery of new players that can be groomed to become future starts, adding that he is ready to go to the Nations Cup with young players and lose instead of featuring spent forces at such events.

“We are going back to the youth competitions because it used to be our bedrock. We are back to our base and I hope it will help us take handball back to its place of pride. It will help us get new talents for the sport as we intend to start developing the handball afresh,” he added.

The HFN boss said that academies would also have the opportunity to take part in future competitions so that state coaches would develop their own talents instead of relying on the academies for players. This, he said, would keep the coaches busy all year round.

He also said that the two top teams would have the chance of taking part in international competitions in Germany, Denmark and Italy as well as the famous Partile Cup in Sweden.  He urged the kids to display their talent and reassured Nigerian that the future of handball is bright.

Ocheho also called on stakeholders to collaborate with the HFN, while urging sponsors to give their support to the tournament, assuring them that they would get mileage and money invested would be judiciously used and accounted for.