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By Vitus Michael

A foremost None-Governmental Organisation focused in reforming and growth of netball in Nigeria, the Community Sports and Educational Development, CSED, have donated netball equipment to the Edo State Government, www.bestchoicesports.com.ng can report.

The donation which was done on Wednesday, March 16, 2022 through the Edo State Sports Commission was part of the CSED commitment in revival and reinvigoration of the game of netball in the state.

Presenting the netball equipment on behalf of CSED Trustees, the National Coordinator Edema Fuludu said that the founder of CSED Initiative, Cornelius Ehimiaghe is keen to make Edo State the hub of netball development in Nigeria.

“Netball is a girl-child/women exclusive sport and it can be used to empower the girl child, promote their health, improve their level of literacy and the general well-being of our youths, especially the girls.

“This donation is in preparation for the NGO’s formal launching of “Project 2027” in Edo State. The goal of PROJEC 2027” is to bring netball to the attention of one million Nigerian school girls before the end of 2027.

“This, the NGO believe will be achieved through the training of 1200 P.E. teachers who will then impart the knowledge gained into their students. The trained P.E. Teachers will be provided with free netball starter pack (netball balls, rims/nets, finger-held whistles and training bibs).

“Netball is played by more than twenty million people all over the world and is a usual feature in the Commonwealth Games and the organizers of the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane (Australia) is currently exploring with the IOC; the possibility of including netball as one of the events of the 2032 Olympic Games,” he said.

“CSED Initiative is of the view that we cannot talk about gender balancing in the sports ecosystem in Nigeria, when netball has been neglected and is almost unheard of in the sporting calendar at both the grassroots and national level.

“In the 1960s and 70s, netball was played in girls’ secondary school and Teachers Training Colleges all over Nigeria. At that point in time, female football was a novelty event, while netball was vying for superiority with athletics and handball. Among female students in Nigeria, netball was more widely played than basketball in Nigeria in the 1960s and 70s,” he said.

In her reaction, the Permanent Secretary of the Edo State Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mrs Sabina Chikere who received the donations on behalf of the state’s Sports Commission Chairman, Mr Yusuf Ali said the gesture is a huge push in the state government’s grassroots sports development initiative.

“We are glad to have these donations and this gesture no doubt will spur the government’s grassroots sports development programme which is aimed at getting our children to redirect their energy and skills in sports apart from their academic pursuit.

“I thank the donors, CSED and the people that made this happen. These netball equipment will be effectively utilized to achieve the desired objective,” she said.

She stated that the Edo State government will be happy to partner with CSED to promote the development of grassroots netball and promised to support the implementation of “PROJECT 2027” in the State.

Some of the netball equipment donated to the Edo State Government include: sixty netball rims/net, sixty complete sets of green and purple training bibs, one hundred and twenty (120) netball balls and one hundred and twenty (120) finger-held whistles. The donated equipment will be used in the training of 30 P.E. Teachers.

Within the next one year, CSED Initiative intends to train 100 P.E. Teachers in Edo State. This basic training programmes will be held in the three senatorial areas of Edo State and the two days training manual which Mary Waya (current INF Ambassador and coaches’ trainer) has specifically developed for “PROJECT 2027” will be used in the training of the P.E. Teachers.

The safeguarding of athletes and students will also be imbedded in the training of netball P.E. Teachers.