Nigeria Beach Volleyball Targets 2016 Olympics

Chairman of the Beach Volleyball Commission of the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF), Musa Nimrod has said that the federation’s aspiration for now is to appear at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Nimrod told newsmen in Abuja that there has been a fast-paced level of development in the Nigerian game in recent times.

“Beach volleyball is moving very fast in Nigeria, and it should now aspire to the next level, which is for us to be at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,’’ he said.

The NVBF board member said Nigeria’s fast rate of development in the game is manifested in its position on the continent and the country’s qualification for many world championships.

“We are number two in Africa currently, and no African country has produced as much as the number of under-age teams we have produced in recent times.

“We have teams in the under-19 and under-21 categories, and this is why we qualified last year for the World Youth Championship on Cyprus and the World Junior Championship in Canada,’’ he said.

Nimrod said the Nigerian senior team was also at the African championship last year in Mauritius, finishing behind South Africa and Angola.

“We really have good teams, as we have recorded lots of achievements over the years. We, however, hope to have lots of competitions and other programmes to complement this, for us to appear at the Rio Games,’’ he said.

The NVBF Beach Volleyball Commission chairman said the game had been further helped by its sponsorship by Samsung Electronics Nigeria.

“Samsung’s sponsorship is wonderful, and it has made the game here to be at a high-level, and we are indeed grateful to the company,’’ he said.

Nimrod pointed at the company’s sponsorship package for the second edition of the Samsung Electronics Male and Female Beach Volleyball Championship to buttress his point.

“Samsung’s sponsorship is great, and it has put the competition at par with the likes of those popular competitions we have worldwide.

“For example, the Monte Carlo event winners go with 2,000 U.S dollars, while the Samsung event in Abuja here has N150,000 for the winners,’’ he said.