The President, Handball Referees Association, Moses Balogun, has urged the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN) to develop programmes for students in tertiary institutions to discover the talents among them.
Balogun told Tidesports last week in Lagos that talents were hidden in Nigerian tertiary institutions which could be tapped to promote the game.
“In the move by the federation to reposition the game, I will like the technical committee to look into talents that are hidden in our higher institutions.
“Many of our tertiary institutions have talents who are not in clubs because of their academic programmes. We can bring them out if we develop a programme for them this year, “ he said.
Balogun said the federation should concentrate more on tertiary institutions in its talent discovery efforts, adding that programmes could be fixed, not to clash with their academic work.
“There is no doubt that if the tertiary institutions are well combed, talents there can redeem the country’s image in handball, at even at the Olympics,’’ he said.
According to him, sports and education are inseparable and talents discovered from educational institutions have lots of future in the sport.
The HFN referees president, who is also a member of the NHF technical committee, also urged coaches to regularly update themselves with the international rules of the game.
“If we must move forward at all, coaches must update their knowledge regularly because the technical rules keep changing.
“Let them watch video clips of international championships, read and study the do’s and don’ts of handball because the more they do it, the better their future.
“Everything is not formal training; coaches need experience too and nobody buys experience, it is acquired,’’ he added.