Coach Solomon Yola has won four trophies in two years for Kano Pillars and Kano State at various tournaments.
The former Kano Pillars player won the Prudent Energy Handball League back to back (2021 and 2022 season with Kano Pillars HC) as well the National Sports Festival twice (2021 and 2022 with Kano State).
Yola said the final match against Team Delta state at the 21st National Sports Festival was challenging adding that winning the Prudent Energy Handball League in 2022 was not a fluke.
He said, “Kano Pillars as a Club and State team, we have had the opportunity to represent the state at the Leagues, Festivals and African Championships.
“At the 20th National Sports Festival in Edo state in 2021, Kano state won the gold medal in the men’s handball event and retained the gold medal at the 21st National Sports Festival in Delta State last year. We are happy with what Kano state achieved at the National Sports Festival; it is a good one because the team is intact. It was not an easy final because we faced the host, Team Delta state and it was a tough match; but we thank God we came out tops.
“Winning the Prudent Energy Handball League back to back (2021 and 2022 season) was not a fluke. We are a team that is always prepared and has everything going with the undiluted support of the State Government under the leadership of Dr Umaru Ganduje. It was a well deserved victory and you see that it looked a bit easy for Kano Pillars; if it were a fluke, we would not have remained unbeaten throughout the 2022 campaign.”
“In the first phase, Kano Pillars won all 11 matches and in the second phase Kano Pillars won 10 matches and drew one match. It was a good campaign for Kano Pillars with great preparations and always the players listened to instructions”, he added.
The Kano Pillars legend said the club is looking beyond the Prudent Energy Handball League and focusing on the 2023 African Club Championship.
He said, “Kano Pillars are currently on break but the team will resume training in earnest by the end of January 2023. With our standard in Kano Pillars and all we have achieved in 2022, we are looking beyond the Nigeria Handball League. If you remember we were at the 2022 African Winners Cup in Niger Republic and lost out in the quarterfinals; our plan is to better our performance at the next African Club Championship.”
The assistant coach of the men’s senior national team said the coaching crew led by Rafiu Salami will map out strategies on how Nigeria successes at the African Nations Championship.
He said, “Concerning the 2023 African Nations Cup, Nigeria have a young side that is coming up; I can tell you this as the Assistant Coach of the men’s Senior team. At the last Nations Cup in Egypt, the side did well and we still have the bulk of players on ground or maybe there might be few changes on ground but my head coach, Rafiu Salami in France will be in charge of that. We will begin on how to map out plans to improve the performance of Nigeria and work with the players on ground.”
