By Amaechi Agbo

The Association of Former Female Athletes of Nigeria, AFFAN Saturday launched its 6-pont Impact Projects aimed at discovering, nurturing, promoting and mentoring girl child interest in athletics as well as provide a mechanism for taking care of ex female athletes after their retirement.

The unveiling of the Impact Projects was part of activities to mark the official inauguration of the AFFAN in an elaborate inaugural ceremony held at the NAF Conference Centre, Kado District, Abuja.

The 6-point Impact Projects include: impact sport and brain project, impact female coach project, impact one athlete and team project, impact after sports career project, AFFAN mini sports festival project and girlsRgame project.

In her address during the inauguration, AFFAN President, Dr Esther Oluwatoyin Aluko said that the association was established to with a view to discovering, educating, empowering and mentoring Nigerian girls through impactful sporting activities and programmes.

She added that “Our strength is that we have former athletes across the country and with little support, we will reverse the neglect of ex athletes and meaningfully engage them to do what they are best at. They have served the nation and are still willing and ready to serve using their wealth of experience and knowledge garnered over the years for the betterment of sports in Nigeria,” he said.

Explaining the rational for the “Impact Projects” Dr Oluwatoyin said that the vision behind impact protects by the AFFAN “Is to positively transform the lives of girls, families and communities using sports as a platform to reach the unreachable and the vulnerable with a view to discover, educate, empower, mentor and protect potential athletes through AFFAN organised events, activities and programmes.

“We would organise sport training and events, seminars, workshops, camping walk and skills acquisition training programmes at the IDP camps, primary and secondary schools within the FCT and across Nigeria.”

Highlights of the inauguration were presentation of inaugural lecture with the theme “The Challenges of Female Athletes in Sports”, unveiling of the association’s slogan

Several ex athletes attended the ceremony among whom was the 1996 Olympic Long Jump gold medallist, Chioma Ajunwa-Opara