The President of the Nigerian Paravolley Federation, Kayode Ladele has revealed that the federation is working towards assembling a national team that Nigerians will be proud of. In his post-camp assessment following the conclusion of the two weeks exercise for the men’s national team, he said the need to get a team ready on time for African Games and the World Paravolley World Cup later in the year necessitated the exercise under the supervision of medal-winning and certified international coach, Elaiuty Mosaad from Egypt.
“There are a lot of activities happening this year. There is a West African versus South African para volley competition coming up in June. There is African Games, and there is the world cup. Already, Nigeria has qualified for the world cup organised by the World Para volley holding in Egypt. We do not want to be caught unawares. So, this is why we arranged the open camp to bring all of them together, choose the team and begin to have regular training”.
On the criteria for players’ invitations across the country, the federation president said promising players at the last competition organised by the federation in 2022 got invites while others who had been consistent recently were also welcomed and accommodated.
With the recent acceptance and steady growth of the sport in Nigeria, Ladele says there is a need for consistent hard work to achieve the short and medium-term goals set. Although the West African versus South African paravolley competition was designed for clubs across the two subregions, the federation thought it best to maximise the opportunity to expose the national team to the international stage ahead of the African Games between 3 and 12 September 2023 in Accra, Ghana, and the World Cup.
“In the long run, we intend to raise a team that can stand as the standard of what we want. Then we can start encouraging teams, players and many people will have something to look forward to”, he concluded.
