Sports
‘Self Motivation, Secret Of Rivers Baseball Success’
Recently, Rivers State Baseball team went to Burkina Faso unheralded and return as champions of West Africa with the feat came the ticket to represent the region in the forthcoming World Baseball and Softball competition.
Apparently, the story and journey to success of the Rivers Baseball team was not as rosy and celebrated as their triumphant return.
According to the coach of the team, Jacob Dede Albert, the tennis success story was attributable to the sacrifice self motivation and resilience of his players.
As if the players knew that glory was awaiting them at the end of the tunnel, they showed tremendous determination to soldier on against many odds.
Coach Albert said that when the team was about travelling to Calabar for the national championship, which provided the ticket for the West African Competition, there was no assistance from any quarters.
“The players had to put together their meager personal resources to ensure that the team participated in the national championship in Calabar, when nothing came from anywhere else,” said Albert.
However, the team beat all comers at the national championship to qualify to fly Nigeria’s flag in Burkina Faso during the West Africa Championship.
After qualification, the team made efforts to raise funds for their participation in the regional competition to no avail.
“A letter was written to state government through the Sports Ministry for assistance, but we were told to wait till after the 17th National Sports Festival, which the state was hosting at the time.”
The response was not good enough as the competition was scheduled to commence just a week after the festival, which would have left the team no time to prepare and travel to Burkina Faso.
For fear of missing the competition, the team resolved to embark on the journey at their own discomfort.
Players had to forego food, eating only twice a day in order to save money for the journey, while they trained with inadequate facilities.
Before leaving Port Harcourt for Lagos enroute Burkina Faso, another round of efforts to raise money yielded no result, except for the sum of N30,000 which the state weight-lifting coach, Ojadi Oduche used to assist the team.
“In fact, we were literally abandoned, left to our fate. At a stage, I almost gave up on the trip out of frustration, but the players insisted on continuing, stating that no matter the odds they would attend the competition,” said coach Albert, who has become the new Technical Director of West African Baseball and Softball Union (WABSU).
However, when the team got to Lagos, it was able to get some assistance that enabled it travel to Burkina Faso to fly Nigeria’s flag.
In the competition proper, the resilience, determination and skills of the team shone through as they overcame all opposition to emerge West African Champions.
The team emerged winners as they played Mali, Ivory Coast and Togo to top their group, in a round rubby format and got through semi-final and beat the host Bukina Faso in the final.
Now, the team is preparing to fly the regions flag very high in Japan come November this year.
Coach Albert was happy that the team’s feat has made people to take notice and become aware of the sport.
He appealed to the sports authorities, especially in Rivers State to pay more attention to other sports, especially the ‘lesser sports’ other than football, adding that football was not the sport with the capacity to develop youths and bring glory to the state.
He also challenged coaches not to only depend on government’s sponsorship to attend a competition but to always seek for alternatives.
While expressing gratitude to Ojadi Oduche, Albert said, “my fellow coaches should emulate me and my team, we struggled to be in Burkina Faso but returned with glory. Most times if you wait for government’s sponsorship, you may not attend your competitions.”
Tonye Orabere
Only Denmark, ranked 21st globally, sits higher among nations that failed to qualify for the tournament, which is being co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
England and Chelsea legend John Terry was among those to voice his disappointment, describing Nigeria as a significant loss to a tournament that features 48 nations for the first time.
“Nigeria will be a big miss. This is a World Cup for participants who haven’t had the opportunity to play in the tournament. I would have loved to see a top team like Nigeria there because they’ve got some great individuals. They’re a great nation,” Terry said during a virtual roundtable session organised by SuperSport.
“I think they are a big miss because Nigeria probably would have gone further in the competition, but unfortunately, one side’s loss is another’s gain,” the former England captain added.
Eric Chelle’s side finished second in Group C of the CAF World Cup qualifiers behind South Africa, who secured automatic qualification. Nigeria kept their hopes alive with a playoff semi-final victory over Gabon before falling to the Democratic Republic of Congo on penalties in the decisive playoff final — their second successive absence from the World Cup after also missing the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
The Nigeria Football Federation later challenged DR Congo’s qualification, alleging the use of ineligible players during the campaign, but the appeal was dismissed.
Despite missing the World Cup, the Super Eagles remain Africa’s 3rd highest-ranked team behind Morocco, who sit seventh in the world, and Senegal. Algeria and Egypt complete the continent’s top five.
Defending champions Argentina enter the tournament as the world’s top-ranked side, ahead of Spain, France, England and Portugal. Brazil are sixth, followed by Morocco, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
The next FIFA World Ranking will be released on July 20, a day after the World Cup final.
Chima Akachukwu and Miracle Akhigbe are among the 16 notable stars picked by the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) for the forthcoming Namibia Tour, where the YellowGreens will compete in a T20 and 50-Over Tri-Series, featuring hosts Namibia and Hong Kong China.
Both players make their way back into the YellowGreens fold after periods away from the side and will be eager to contribute their experience and quality as Nigeria pursues success in Namibia.
The NCF said yesterday that the squad, which departs Nigeria today, forms part of the national team’s continued preparations for future international assignments as the YellowGreens seek to build on recent performances and strengthen their standing on the global stage.
Leading the squad is Captain Sulaimon Runsewe, who will spearhead Nigeria’s campaign against two formidable opponents in what promises to be a highly competitive series.
The selected squad combines experienced internationals with emerging talents, providing the technical crew an opportunity to assess player development and team combinations in both the T20 and 50-over formats.
The team will be led on tour by Coaches Leke Oyede and Tamuno John, who will oversee preparations and match operations during the opening phase of the series.
Joining the squad later in Namibia will be the newly appointed Head Coach and High Performance Manager, Stephen Magongo, whose arrival marks another significant step in the Federation’s commitment to strengthening the national team structure and enhancing player development pathways.
Supporting the coaching staff are Team Analyst Jamal Okechukwu, Strength and Conditioning Coach Seye Olympio, and Team Physiotherapist Timothy Adesomowo, forming a well-rounded technical crew focused on maximising player performance and welfare throughout the tour.
The NCF views the Namibia Tri-Series as an important platform for the continued growth of the national team, offering valuable international exposure and competitive match experience against quality opposition. The series will provide the players and technical crew with another opportunity to evaluate progress, fine-tune strategies, and build momentum ahead of future international competitions.
The YellowGreens will face Namibia and Hong Kong China in both T20 and 50-over contests, with the matches expected to test the team’s adaptability, discipline, and resilience in challenging conditions.
Blessing Otu on Monday overcame hard-fighting Kelvin Bebe- Emmanuella in two sets of 6-1, 6-3 to qualify for the second round of the women’s singles of the ongoing 47th Central Bank of Nigeria Senior Tennis Championship, held at the Tennis Courts of the package “B” of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
Speaking after the round of 32 game, Otu, who will be 19 years old in September, said she capitalised on her opponent’s weaknesses to gain victory, having studied her game very well.
“Bebe is a very good and tough player. But I studied her game and did the job well.
“Although she tried to come back in the second set, I punctured all her tricks to win the match and move on. I wish I could continue like this in the rest of my games,” she said.
Another member of the Otu family, John Out, was also victorious as he defeated Mohammed Abdusalam 2-1 (6-2, 6-7, 6-1) in the men’s singles category to advance into the round of 32.
But the third Otu in the game, Thomas, was not that lucky as he lost by 6-0, 7-5 in two straight sets to Danjuma Isaac.
In other matches, Michael Emmanuel defeated Ibrahim Aminu to advance, while Drimiya Mevi outclassed Seyi Ogunsakin by beating him 2-1 (6-7, 6-3, 6-1). Action continues tomorrow when other top players, including the men’s singles top seed, Abua Cannice, join the chase for honours.