A member of the FCT Handball Association, Mr Richard Agbonifo has lauded the pragmatic leadership initiatives of the Chairman of the board, Ambassador Dr Edward Olutoke in repositioning handball in the Federal Capital Territory.
Mr Agbonifo who stated this while interacting with newsmen in Abuja ahead of the commencement of the 2022 FCT U-12/U-15 Inter-Area Council Handball Championship, noted that the coming on board of the FCT Handball Association current board is a sign of great things to come for the sport.
“What he is doing is something new in handball. When I was in Germany, I was told he is renovating the Handball Court in Area 10. I was surprised because the Handball Court have been there, abandoned for over 30 years. I was there when they started building the place, when nothing was there. When I came in and saw what he did, I was very very impressed.
“Of course there are still a lot of things to be done but we need to start from somewhere. When I met him, I saw the passion which he has for the sport and that also encourages me to also want to do something with the foundation in handball.
“The Chairman is a leader when it comes to doing what he is doing and I am honoured to be part of a board that is going to do something new in handball in Abuja.
“I am also happy that we have people in the board (FCT Handball Association) who are pushing and motivating me so that when we start like this, other people will also start supporting handball. We have lots of talented handballers in this country but because there is nobody who is helping them to succeed, their stars failed to shine,” he said.
Barely three years in the helm of affairs of FCT Handball, Amb. Olutoke have overseen the establishment of the first Handball Supporters Club in the history of handball in the country The FCT Handball Supporters Club; remodeling and renovation of the FCT Handball Court as well as organisation of the grassroots competition, the 2022 FCT U-12/U-15 Inter-Area Council Handball Championship for both male and female.
Unlike the 2021 edition that had only 4 teams, this edition, which started on Wednesday, have 20 teams to vie for honours and crowns.
The overall best player of the tournament will receive university scholarship to study his or her choice of course in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN.
