HFN President Wants Only Best Players For Tourneys

The President of Handball Federation of Nigeria, Dauda Yusuf, has urged coaches to keep sentiments aside while choosing players for tournaments to allow only the best to play.

Dauda made the call at the Handball National Coaching Conference in Abuja.

He alleged that most coaches were sentimental in selecting players to represent the country at completions because they allowed religion and tribal difference to overshadow their judgments.

“ A coach should be open minded and free to all players regardless of religious or tribal difference. When it comes to competitions, success is what matters and as such you should make sure you are selecting the best players.

“These players should be chosen according to their abilities, as a coach you are to be a model to players without discrimination and bias,’’ Dauda said.

He said using merit in the selection of players would produce results of victory and not shame. .

Dauda urged coaches to be creative and bring in innovation that would produce results so as to move the Nigeria Handball Federation forward.

The Vice-President, Nigeria Handball Coaches Association, Mr Paul Chiroma, in a lecture urged handball coaches to imbue the key responsibility of fair judgment so as to achieve a successful Handball Federation.

Chiroma said that a coach should be full of integrity and mentor young players so as to create a synergy that would go a long way to sustain the federation.

“ There is need for coaches to be in position of responsibility and power that way players will be able to look up to them and learn acceptable behavioural traits,’’ he said.

He encouraged coaches to act in ways that promoted positive and acceptable conduct in handball games.

“The key responsibility of a coach in achieving a successful implementation of handball programmes is to educate players through communicating ideas and concepts to improve players’ technical ability through knowledge,’’ he said.

Chiroma said coaches should strive to promote fair-play and laws of the game to gain trust of players, parents, fans and fellow employees.

He, however, said that handball games were rarely cared for and supported like other games and added: “handball must not be left to