Congrats to the Falcons of Hope!
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- Category: Sports
- Written by ODEGBAMI ON SATURDAY
- Hits: 660
6 times in the past 7 competitions the Falcons, the female national team of Nigeria, have carted home the Africa Women’s Football Championship. It is, therefore, not unexpected that they would win it even before the championship started.
I am joining with other Nigerians to say congratulations to the gallant damsels. The victory simply reminds us again of the often-touted potentials of Nigeria to be one of the foremost footballing nations on earth. Apart from reducing the trauma of recent poor performances of the national football teams the Falcons and how well they played remind us that, with a little more attention to fine administrative and technical details, Nigerian female footballers could produce the first African team to win the female version of the senior World Cup. Only a few months ago we all saw how well the Falconets, the under-20 female national team, did during the world under-20 championships. Although they did not win it they put up some of best performances of any national female African team that I have ever seen. Considering the poor state of female football in Nigeria, one cannot but applaud the women and imagine the possibility of what could be should the country do things a little bit differently. The world would be in for a true treat were Nigeria to put a bit of professionalism into its administration, and to design proper developmental structures and programmes for female football.In Africa, winning is nothing new or a big deal for the Falcons notwithstanding the lavish celebrations that followed their South African exploits. Not winning the championship is what would have been the news, damning and catastrophic. What could have been the greatest challenge, the encounter with the only team to have dented their records in the past 7 years (Equatorial Guinea), fizzled out to be a no-contest, when the Guineans suffered the same fate as others before them - an avalanche of goals! What caught my particular attention was the significant improvement in the skills of the Nigerian girls, their quick interchange of passes, better ball control, their overall comfortability on the ball and heading skills. It is the area of heading the ball, the most difficult act in women’s football, that I see that huge gaps have been bridged. The big question now is this: how could all of this transformation have taken place in a country where the fortune of domestic female football is dwindling almost to the point of extinction? How did the girls get to do so well when there was hardly any preparation of note before the championship and little incentives to motivate them?
The reality is that female football is not big in Nigeria. The girls that play it, the people that follow it, and even those that fund it are so few that, ordinarily, one would not expect any level of significant improvement and achievement from them. But through the decades Nigerians have come to realise that it is only in their country that the people expect a bountiful harvest without proper cultivation and nurturing. Nigeria is indeed reaping without sowing. We do not know how it happens but we embrace it and use its benefits. Nigeria’s dominance of female football in Africa is for reasons other than the game’s level of development. I am told by a few people that a few other African countries are doing better than Nigeria in running an authentic grassroots football developmental programme. Nigeria’s advantages over them are: the huge population of the country, thereby producing a greater pool of women that may be interested in football to choose from. Secondly, there is a large population of women that come from a part of the country that are naturally physically endowed and have some opportunity in a few clubs and schools for girls to participate in football. This is the effects of tradition, culture, religion and Western education on the participation of women in sports. A list of the names of females that have represented the country in the past 14 years reveals a clear picture of the demographics. Nigerian girls are physically stronger and more athletic than most of their counterparts from other parts of the world. In skills and technical ability the gap is being slowly but steadily closed. In 1991 when Nigeria first went to the female World Cup and was thumped with a basket-full of goals the girls were all athletes, runners, without skills and any organisational ability. With coaching and the introduction of some level of domestic female football in the country their skills were polished. Power and athleticism are now natural gifts for the girls and have remained a constant. With improving levels of the technical aspect of their game they showed the whole of Africa how superior they are to every other team in the African championship, so much so that there was never any serious doubt where the cup would settle even from the start. What some of us wanted to observe is the level of technical improvement the team has achieved so as to be able to gauge how far the team can go at the highest level.
Compared to the rest of Africa Nigeria has gone very far! Compared to the rest of the world, some work still needs to be done. The girls must be able to do a little more constructive play with the ball. They should be able to keep the ball a little bit better and longer. This will define the level of their comfortability on the ball, which is the greatest determinant of what separates the ‘boys’ from the ‘men’ in world football. Technically, women are weakest in the area of heading the ball, but I observe that the Nigerian girls are applying their heads better and scoring some decent goals, but still need to work on that area.
Once again, I congratulate the Falcons for their deserved victory and celebrate with them.
NNPC/Shell Cup 2011!
The good news is that the All Nigerian Secondary Schools Football Championship for the 2011 NNPC/Shell will soon begin. This edition promises to be the most scrutinised since its inception. Following all the brouhaha about the issue of age-cheats, falsifiers of documents, etc in age-group competitions in the country all education and sports authorities will be determined to pay special attention to the players and organisers in order to establish a new era of authenticity. If things go according to plan every level of the championship shall be observed very closely by scouts of the national junior teams even from State level so that no good player escapes the net that will be thrown over the entire championship to catch talent. On a personal note I shall traverse the venues around the country to put a special eye on events.
At the end we shall attempt to work with the National Sports Commission to assemble the best discovered from around the country during the entire competition. The NSC can adopt the products as part of their grassroots programme and guide them through the next phase of their academic and sports development. Working in collaboration with the Nigeria Football Association, I also believe we can organise an international match with their counterparts of a neighbouring country so as to baptise the players into international football gaining exposure, experience and limelight.
This is to invite as many schools as possible, in all the nooks and crannies of the country, to register with the officer of the Nigeria School Sports Federation in each State’s Ministry of Education for the championship. Principals and schools’ proprietors must encourage their schools to register and participate as a demonstration of their intention and determination to re-introduce football in their school. If the statement of sports officials are anything to go by the next generation of the country’s under-17 players shall come significantly from this championship. Lets go take the kick-off!
Articles
Congrats to the Falcons of Hope!
Category: Sports Written by ODEGBAMI ON SATURDAY Hits: 660
6 times in the past 7 competitions the Falcons, the female national team of Nigeria, have carted home the Africa Women’s Football Championship. It is, therefore, not unexpected that they would win it even before the championship started.
I am joining with other Nigerians to say congratulations to the gallant damsels. The victory simply reminds us again of the often-touted potentials of Nigeria to be one of the foremost footballing nations on earth. Apart from reducing the trauma of recent poor performances of the national football teams the Falcons and how well they played remind us that, with a little more attention to fine administrative and technical details, Nigerian female footballers could produce the first African team to win the female version of the senior World Cup. Only a few months ago we all saw how well the Falconets, the under-20 female national team, did during the world under-20 championships. Although they did not win it they put up some of best performances of any national female African team that I have ever seen. Considering the poor state of female football in Nigeria, one cannot but applaud the women and imagine the possibility of what could be should the country do things a little bit differently. The world would be in for a true treat were Nigeria to put a bit of professionalism into its administration, and to design proper developmental structures and programmes for female football.In Africa, winning is nothing new or a big deal for the Falcons notwithstanding the lavish celebrations that followed their South African exploits. Not winning the championship is what would have been the news, damning and catastrophic. What could have been the greatest challenge, the encounter with the only team to have dented their records in the past 7 years (Equatorial Guinea), fizzled out to be a no-contest, when the Guineans suffered the same fate as others before them - an avalanche of goals! What caught my particular attention was the significant improvement in the skills of the Nigerian girls, their quick interchange of passes, better ball control, their overall comfortability on the ball and heading skills. It is the area of heading the ball, the most difficult act in women’s football, that I see that huge gaps have been bridged. The big question now is this: how could all of this transformation have taken place in a country where the fortune of domestic female football is dwindling almost to the point of extinction? How did the girls get to do so well when there was hardly any preparation of note before the championship and little incentives to motivate them?
The reality is that female football is not big in Nigeria. The girls that play it, the people that follow it, and even those that fund it are so few that, ordinarily, one would not expect any level of significant improvement and achievement from them. But through the decades Nigerians have come to realise that it is only in their country that the people expect a bountiful harvest without proper cultivation and nurturing. Nigeria is indeed reaping without sowing. We do not know how it happens but we embrace it and use its benefits. Nigeria’s dominance of female football in Africa is for reasons other than the game’s level of development. I am told by a few people that a few other African countries are doing better than Nigeria in running an authentic grassroots football developmental programme. Nigeria’s advantages over them are: the huge population of the country, thereby producing a greater pool of women that may be interested in football to choose from. Secondly, there is a large population of women that come from a part of the country that are naturally physically endowed and have some opportunity in a few clubs and schools for girls to participate in football. This is the effects of tradition, culture, religion and Western education on the participation of women in sports. A list of the names of females that have represented the country in the past 14 years reveals a clear picture of the demographics. Nigerian girls are physically stronger and more athletic than most of their counterparts from other parts of the world. In skills and technical ability the gap is being slowly but steadily closed. In 1991 when Nigeria first went to the female World Cup and was thumped with a basket-full of goals the girls were all athletes, runners, without skills and any organisational ability. With coaching and the introduction of some level of domestic female football in the country their skills were polished. Power and athleticism are now natural gifts for the girls and have remained a constant. With improving levels of the technical aspect of their game they showed the whole of Africa how superior they are to every other team in the African championship, so much so that there was never any serious doubt where the cup would settle even from the start. What some of us wanted to observe is the level of technical improvement the team has achieved so as to be able to gauge how far the team can go at the highest level.
Compared to the rest of Africa Nigeria has gone very far! Compared to the rest of the world, some work still needs to be done. The girls must be able to do a little more constructive play with the ball. They should be able to keep the ball a little bit better and longer. This will define the level of their comfortability on the ball, which is the greatest determinant of what separates the ‘boys’ from the ‘men’ in world football. Technically, women are weakest in the area of heading the ball, but I observe that the Nigerian girls are applying their heads better and scoring some decent goals, but still need to work on that area.
Once again, I congratulate the Falcons for their deserved victory and celebrate with them.
NNPC/Shell Cup 2011!
The good news is that the All Nigerian Secondary Schools Football Championship for the 2011 NNPC/Shell will soon begin. This edition promises to be the most scrutinised since its inception. Following all the brouhaha about the issue of age-cheats, falsifiers of documents, etc in age-group competitions in the country all education and sports authorities will be determined to pay special attention to the players and organisers in order to establish a new era of authenticity. If things go according to plan every level of the championship shall be observed very closely by scouts of the national junior teams even from State level so that no good player escapes the net that will be thrown over the entire championship to catch talent. On a personal note I shall traverse the venues around the country to put a special eye on events.
At the end we shall attempt to work with the National Sports Commission to assemble the best discovered from around the country during the entire competition. The NSC can adopt the products as part of their grassroots programme and guide them through the next phase of their academic and sports development. Working in collaboration with the Nigeria Football Association, I also believe we can organise an international match with their counterparts of a neighbouring country so as to baptise the players into international football gaining exposure, experience and limelight.
This is to invite as many schools as possible, in all the nooks and crannies of the country, to register with the officer of the Nigeria School Sports Federation in each State’s Ministry of Education for the championship. Principals and schools’ proprietors must encourage their schools to register and participate as a demonstration of their intention and determination to re-introduce football in their school. If the statement of sports officials are anything to go by the next generation of the country’s under-17 players shall come significantly from this championship. Lets go take the kick-off!