Group Donates Netball Equipment To Edo State

Posted by Eric Ojo Latest Headlines, Sports News Thursday, March 17th, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – A frontline Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Community Sport and Education Development (SCED) initiative has donated netball equipment to the Edo State Government.
Some of the donated netball equipment include, 60 netball rims/net, 60 complete sets of green and purple training bibs, 120 netball balls and120 finger-held whistles, were joyfully received by representatives of the Edo State Sports Commission on behalf of the state government.
The donation is coming as part of the preparation for the CSED’s formal launching of “Project 2027” in Edo State. The goal of project is to bring netball to the attention of one million Nigerian school girls before the end of 2027.
This, according to the group, will be achieved through the training of 1,200 Physical Education (P.E.) Teachers who will then impart the knowledge gained into their students. The trained P.E. Teachers will be provided with free netball starter pack, which include netball balls, rims/nets, finger-held whistles and training bibs. The equipment will be judiciously used in the training of 30 P.E. Teachers and within the next one year, the NGO intends to train 100 P.E. Teachers in Edo State.
This basic training programmes will be held in the three senatorial areas of Edo State and the two days training manual which Mary Waya, the current INF Ambassador and coaches’ trainer, has specifically developed for Project 2027, will be used in the training of the P.E Teachers. The safeguarding of athletes and students will also be imbedded in the training of netball P.E. Teachers.
National Coordinator of CSED, Edema Fuludu, who presented the netball equipment on behalf of CSED Trustees, said the founder of CSED initiative, Mr. Cornelius Ehimiaghe is keenly committed to making Edo State the hub of netball development in Nigeria.
Fuludu noted that netball is a girl-child/women exclusive sport that can be used to empower the girl child, promote their health, improve their level of literacy and the general well-being of young people, especially the girls.
CSED initiative is of the view that we cannot talk about gender balancing in the sport ecosystem in Nigeria, when netball has been neglected and is almost unheard of in the sporting calendar at both the grassroots and national level”, he said.
Meanwhile, netball is played by more than twenty million people all over the world, Netball is a usual feature in the Commonwealth Games and the organizers of the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane (Australia) is currently exploring with the IOC; the possibility of including netball as one of the events of the 2032 Olympic Games.
It may however, be recalled that in the 1960s and 70s, netball was played in girls’ secondary school and Teachers Training Colleges all over Nigeria. At that point in time, female football was a novelty event, while netball was vying for superiority with athletics and handball. Among female students in Nigeria, netball was more widely played than basketball in Nigeria during that era.
Interestingly, since March 2015, when a representative of CSED initiative held a formal meeting with staff of the International Netball Federation (INF) in their headquarters in Manchester, CSED’s effort at reviving the game of netball in Nigeria has been deliberately blocked by some sports administrators in Abuja who will not do anything to promote the game, but will want to use netball to maintain their post-retirement relevance in the sport ecosystem in Nigeria.
CSED’s founder, Mr. Ehimiaghe said in spite of these hindrance, the initiative has not relented in its effort to promote the right of Nigerian girls to play netball.
“Before the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, we trained 24 Netball Africa coaches, we built a netball court at IDPs Camp Uhogua (Edo State) and “PROJECT 2027” is going to be the biggest grassroots sport mobilization programme in the Nigeria sport ecosystem. “In this regard, we will be collaborating with all progress conscious individuals, NGOs, Foundations, corporate organizations, Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Sport, NYSC, Sports Commissions, local government authorities, sports Department of tertiary institutions and the media to promote the right of the Nigerian girl to play netball”, he further explained.
While receiving the donated equipment on behalf of the Edo State Sports Commission, the Permanent Secretary of the Commission, Mrs. Sabina Chikere promised to follow government’s cardinal initiative of making Edo State Nigeria’s leading sports destination.
Mrs Chikere, who represented the Chairman of the Commission, Mr Yusuf Ali, also stated that the Edo State Government will be happy to partner with CSED to promote the development of grassroots netball and promised to support the implementation of Project 2027 in the state
The Director of Facilities at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Mr. Victor Edokpayi and some members of the Sports Commission were also present at the handling over ceremony.