Coach Charges Associations On Grassroots Dev

Lucas Honvo, a Lagos-based Handball Coach, has urged state associations and clubs to work together with the Handball Federation Nigeria (HFN) to realise its goal  of developing the sport at the grassroots.
Honvo told Tidesports source in Lagos  that the Samuel Ocheho-led HFN Board had revived the U-18 and U-21 National Championships.
He noted that the championships  held in 2018, while the 2019 edition was ongoing in Lagos State.
“This board has programmes to improve handball, and it is expected that states should key into the vision.
“The board has kept to its promise of reviving the national U-18 and U-21, but the number of states taking part in this year’s edition is very low compared to last year’s.
“We have less than 10 states participating,  and its not encouraging,” he said.
The coach told Tidesports source that there was the need for state teams and HFN-affiliated clubs to participate in the competition to create a favourable environment for players to get exposed and developed.
According to him, the idea is to build players’ confidence and use the platform to identity budding talents that can be invited to the national cadet and junior teams.
“This is a very good ground for state teams and clubs to expose their players because it is  open to the specified male and female categories.
“Some players in the participating teams with impressive skills identified by technical officials have high chances of being invited for national cadet and junior follow-up programmes,” he added.
Honvo commended state associations participating in the championships, saying that they took a good step in the right direction.