Warriors flag football team’s wide receiver, Jumai Laide was quite impressed by the large array of talented players seen during season two of Showtime Bowl Series and has now charged the National Sports Commission (NSC) to support its growth.
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Olaide, who emerged as most valuable in this year’s Showtime Flag Football League (SFFL), added that there are many more good players aside from her and stressed that the sport deserves proper attention.
She also praised her teammates for their efforts in last Sunday’s final, but admitted that their opponents, Spartans, who won the game 58-53, were the better side on the evening at Meadow Hall in Lekki, Lagos.
Olaide retorted in a chat with sports247.ng, “My mum told me that every day is not Christmas. We came to play our best, but Spartans is not an easy team.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We knew the people we were going to play against were tough and, today, they were the better team.”
She noted further that Warriors had a slump in the final, as they had been on a roller coaster all through the earlier part of the season, but they could not maintain their surge when it mattered most.
Olaide recounted, “Coming from the regular season, we were dominating everybody. We went eight games unbeaten, we got to the playoffs and won our first two legs.
“However, by the second leg, we lost a game, and we have now lost the final to Spartans.
“I don’t know what happened, but we were not the better side in the final. Spartans were the better team, and we can only do better next time.”
Olaide then turned her attention on the two awards she won, but stressed that other good players who abound in the league also deserve to be mentioned.
She reasoned, “I am just one of the many great players we have in this league. The little I can say right now is that the world should be ready.
“There are a lot of young talents here, and we have not yet seen anything. A lot of talents for this sport are here in Nigeria.
“I made the team of the year in this league, for my role as wide receiver of my team, Warriors.
“Fortunately for me, I was also nominated as the most valuable player, that’s MVP, and I got the award; but I did not achieve all of this alone.
“Thanks to my team for making this happen for me. I got it with the support of my teammates, my coach, my captain and everyone who kept pushing me.
“I got two awards, but there are a lot of other talents that are in this league right now.”
Olaide concluded with a charge to Nigeria’s sports officials to stop devoting all attention to football and ensure that they support other events, like hers, that can achieve glory for the nation at the Olympic Games.
“I used to play soccer, and I know how the body in charge of sports in Nigeria neglects other parts.
“This is because soccer is a widely accepted sport worldwide.
“It might be hard to get flag football up to that height, but the sports body needs to see what’s going on here.
“With a lot of talents here, it’s very sad to see this go to waste. I think flag football is the future of sports in Nigeria.
“It’s early now. The talents are raw, and a lot of young people are in it.
“So, I think they should look into it and, maybe someday, I think we have a chance to be at the Olympics.
“So, I think they have to focus on this sport and bring it up, honestly,” Olaide buttressed with an emphatic tone.
