Samuel Ajayi has rated the Nigeria women’s volleyball team high following their sixth place finish at the recently concluded 2023 African Senior Women’s Nations Volleyball Championship in Yaounde, Cameroon.
Ajayi, who led the technical crew to the championship said the players put up a wonderful performance despite spending two weeks in camp prior to the tournament.
He told www.aclsports.com that Nigeria has the potential of winning the African Championship in the next four years if the players get the right exposure.
The FIVB Level two coach said, “I am impressed with the work rate my girls put at the 2023 African Senior Women’s Nations Volleyball Championship and all I can say is that they have done well. Despite finishing sixth position on the log, I rate my players high at the championship.
“The players were invited to a two-week camp exercise and every one of them are home based players. If you look critically at the Kenyan, Egyptian, Cameroonian, Moroccan and the Rwandan teams; they had training tours before the championship.
“Nigeria players are determined and focused; all the players need is exposure to training tours, friendly matches against top clubs/countries as well as movement of players to professional clubs outside the shores of the country. If these conditions are met, the chances of Nigeria ruling Africa in the next four years is high”.
Ajayi applauded the President of Nigeria Volleyball Federation, Engineer Musa Nimrod and his board for ensuring the players participated at the 21st African Championship.
He said, “The Nigeria Volleyball Federation led by Engineer Musa Nimrod has been trying his best in transforming the face of volleyball in Nigeria. We would have missed the African Championships but it took the efforts of the President and his board members.
“I hope the Federal Government and corporate sponsors leverage on the success of Nigeria Volleyball and partner with the federation in order to ensure the game of volleyball becomes more lucrative”.
