The annual FCT handball Championship starts today at the Old Parade in the nation’s capital.
The championship which is being organised by the FCT Handball Association in collaboration with Centre for Children and Youth Excellence in Sports will see five male and three female teams battle for the coveted trophy.
The male teams are Safety Shooters (FRSC), Defenders (Civil Defence), Key Boys (Nigeria Prison Service), Unity Boys (FCT Handball male Team) and the guest team, Owena Kings (Ondo Handball Team) while the female teams are Safety Babes (FRSC), Defenders (Civil Defence) and Unity Girls ( FCT Handball Female team).
According to the fixtures, Safety Shooters will lock horns with Unity Boys in the first game while the second match will feature Unity Girls and Civil Defence Girls. The last match of the opening day will see Prison Key Boys square up against the Civil Defence male team.
Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, Bala Mohammed said that the competition will serve as a selection ground for players that will represent the FCT handball team in the forthcoming National Sports Festival scheduled to hold in Lagos State, adding that FCT cannot afford to give up its leading role in handball development in Nigeria especially in the area of grassroots development.
Bala who is the assistant coach of the Nigerian national handball team said that interest groups and sponsors have increased compared to last year’s stating that he is impressed with the turn-out of events which is in sharp comparison to last year’s competition. “What you are going to see this year is a whole sharp improvement from what we witnessed here last year.
?The quality of teams and support we have gotten so far is a clear indication that we are not giving up our leading role in handball development in the country. Right now, FCT has over 20, 000 active handball players and possibly this could account for low social vices among youths in the nation’s capital. We cannot relent in our efforts to keep the youths off the streets and make handball the leading game in FCT” he concluded.
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Today’s Fixtures
Safety Shooter v Unity Boys (male) 8am
Unity Girls v Civil Defenders Girls (Female) 10am
Prison Key Boys v Civil Defence (12noon)