Sports
NSC To Include Beach Volleball In NSF
The National Sports Commission (NSC) has said that beach volleyball would be included in the events for the 19th National Sport Festival (NSF) in Calabar, Cross Rivers in 2014.
NSC’s Assistant Director of Elite Athlets Development, Igbinosa Emmanuel, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen in Abuja.
Igbinosa said the decision was due to the success of the sport since its inception in the country.
“We discovered that it is an area that Nigeria can do well as we are doing in beach football.
“And I am assuring you that it will be recognized as a scoring event at the next sports festival because it was at the last Games, tagged “Eko 2012” in Lagos.
“But what happened then was that there was a mix up in the zonal eliminations and they came in a little bit late.
“The sport has been doing well locally, nationally and internationally and this will be an encouragement for them to do more,” he said.
Igbinosa noted the sport was also at the last 10th All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique and both the male and female teams came fifth and eight, respectively.
“So, they should be given the necessary support because we want them to do better than they have done,” he said.
Igbinosa quoted the Director –General of NSC, Patrick Ekeji as saying that the commission was committed to promoting the sport both at the grassroots and the national level.
“Due to the success the sport has recorded over time, we are committed to promoting it because of its potential.
“We will be doing this for two purposes because beach volleyball is both a recreational and competitive sport.
“So, we are pledging our support to the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF) for the growth of the sport,” he said.
The second edition of the Samsung Electronics Male and Female Beach Volleyball Championships held from March 29 to 31 in Abuja.
The three-day championships started off with 12 of the 20 teams expected at the competition with Ondo State and Delta teams winning the male and female categories, respectively.