THE second edition of handball competition for secondary
schools in Lagos State tagged ‘Opeifa Cup’ will hold from May 16 to 21 at the
Sports Hall of Rowe Park Sports Centre in Yaba, Lagos.
The competition which is being organised by the Lagos
State Handball Association will feature 42 male teams and 38
female teams
competing on group basis,Sportsbiz247.blogspot.com reports.
Speaking in Lagos during the official presentation of the trophy, the
sponsor, former Lagos State Commissioner for Transport, Comrade Kayode Opeifa,
said his aim is to give back to the society, while also contributing his quota
towards the revival of the sport in the country.
"Beyond human capital development, beyond sports
development, it’s just my own way of giving back to the society. It is also to
use this competition to ensure that we spread to other parts of Nigeria and we
get handball back to the Olympics. Apart from football in the 80s handball was
the next event to get to the Olympics. Since then we've not been able to make
it. Basketball has made it; table tennis is doing fine, Nigeria handball must
also be at the next Olympics”, said Opeifa, patron of the Lagos State Handball
Association (LSHA).
While revealing the new innovation introduced into this
year’s edition, the Chairman, Lagos State Handball Association, Adeola Opeifa
said the competition is beginning to give young boys and girls the hope of
representing the country in the nearest future.
“In this year's event, we are separating the juniors from
the seniors. We want to have the junior team to play separately and the senior
team to play separately. We don't want that physical advantage.
"The competition has begun to yield results despite
being in its second year. Two boys from the mainland schools were part of the
state team that played in the National League Championship in Kaduna last
month. So we hope to discover more players through this and other
competitions,” she said.
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