The Chairman of Kwara State Handball Association, Emmanuel Olubiyo believes his young crops of players are ready to challenge other states for the National U18 and U21 handball title.
The National U18 and U21 Male/Female championship is slated for 16th to 23rd March, 2019 at the Mobolaji Johnson Sports hall, Rowe Park Lagos.
Olubiyo told www.aclsports.com that the former U12 and U15 champions are eager to feature in the highly rated championships.
He said, “The preparation is fantastic because as you can see, the players are eager to be in Lagos. The boys and girls have been in camp for a long period of time preparing for championships. The morale of both the players and coaches are very high and I know the team will deliver; this is the first time these crops of players are attending this kind of tournament and they will make great impact”.
He further said, “In past years, Kwara state has maintained the lead and is the defending champions of U12 and U15 championships; this is something they prepared years before lifting the trophies and we promised ourselves that we will continue to make that lead.
“For the former U12 and U15 players crossing to the U18 and U21, I have a strong conviction that Kwara state will repeat the same thing we did at Idah for the age grade tournaments by capturing the trophy”.
Olubiyo said the inclusion of the female U18 players who took part in the IHF Challenge Trophy in Niger Republic will boost the chances of Kwara state.
He said, “We had four players in the U18 National junior team (Muinat Sadiq, Muhinat Yusuf, Wuraola Nuhu and Idowu Abdulrasaq) and these are players Kwara state trained from the grassroots to this stage.
“I strongly believe that the girls will bring their wealth of experience into the Kwara U18 team ahead of the championships in Lagos”.
