By Chinedum Ohanusi &
Friday Jushua
In a bid to improve the technical ability of coaches in Nigeria in tandem with best global practices, sixteen (16) Nigerians have completed an International Handball Federation (IHF) Grade D Course, in Abuja.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the programme on Sunday, the Technical Director of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Bala Mohammed said the course was conceived to boost the growth of the game of handball from the grassroots.
“The ‘D’ license is the minimum standard for the
IHF licenses. It is also one of the technical requirements to guide the younger generation, attain elite status. More crucially the IHF has made it crystal clear that none should practice as a Coach, without having the minimum qualification, the ‘D’ license”.
Bala, who is also a member of the HFN Board, then called on the leadership of the National Sports Commission (NSC) to give more support to Handball, and other sports federations, instead of over-concentrating on football.
One of the resource persons, Ryan Almeida from Angola, described Nigeria as a potential hub for the rapid growth of handball in the entire continent of Africa. He commended the participants, for displaying a lot of zeal, which he described as the key to the successful application of what they have learnt during the three-day course.
”It’s been days of hard work, a lot of work and intensive training, theoretical and practical activities, and also written exams. IHF has a very good development plan or project for the growth of handball in Nigeria. Nigeria has potential because it has a lot of people and the growth of handball in Africa”.
He concluded by saying his work had been to teach the participants the scientific side of handball because they know a lot about handball already, and he was sure, they have learnt a lot,” he said.
A total of sixteen (16) coaches, eight (8) men, and eight (8) women, took part in the week-long exercise; and were awarded with IHF D coaching licenses.
