By Albert Akota
The North Central Handball League kicks-off at Moshood Abiola stadium in Abuja with fifteen male and female professional clubs showing supremacy to each other yesterday as spectators watches from stand with Covid 19 protocol.
The competition which was put together by handball veteran and chairman of the mega Handball Veteran Association Sheidu Jibrin will run from 8th to 14th of this month with aims of discovery raw talents that will make it various clubs and the country proud.
Revealing the objectives behind the tournament, Jibrin, said, “the intention of this games is to sustain, encourage and gather the North Central handball teams because we have fifteen professional male and female handball teams participating, in order to sustain the North zone in the country that had been controlling the handball in the country at the national levels, we decided to organized a preparatory tournament, the game you are seeing is a tournament to ensure North Central become the king and queen of handball in Nigeria.
“We have twelve professional clubs and three divisions one clubs for this game, we decide to have level playing ground for everybody to play without age limit, we want everybody to exhibit their raw talents, we are trying to enhance the game of handball for national teams, we are not just only doing it for the North Central but national teams at all level to have a formidable team that will represent this country well.
“What we are doing in the North Central is to have a technical zonal representative that will sustain these ideas, we done in 2019, due to Covid 19, we missed 2020 and we are doing it again, it’s as a result of idea, I am standing to become a representative of this Zone in the next federation election then proceed to presidential level which some of you knew in 2017 I was a team player and later stepped down for who emerged.
‘We are working towards that direction to sustain North Central because is the primary aim of going out, if you go round the country North Central is the Zone you can see 10 to 12 teams at the division one level, “Jibrin enthused.
The sports enthusiasm reiterated that handball game remain one of the round leather game to watch as sports lover and must be giving priority no matter the circumstances because it involved of youths, passion administrators and lifting the flag of Nigeria in international competitions.
The Male Teams1. D-Defenders – FCT, Abuja2. Correction Boys. – FCT, Abuja3. Benue Buffaloes. – Benue State4. Safety Shooters. – FCT, Abuja5. Confluence Kings. – Kogi State6. Vipers – Plateau State7. Ambassadors. – Nasarawa State8. Niger United. – Niger State Female Teams1. Confluence Queens – Kogi State2. Safety Babes. – FCT, Abuja3. Benue Queens. – Benue State4. Peacocks. – Plateau State
