To celebrate outstanding sports personalities, administrators, sportsmen and women (Active and Retired), Nigeria’s biggest online Sports Website, SPORTS247.NG dedicates this platform monthly for remarkable achievements in promoting sports in Nigeria and beyond by these individuals.
The Nigerian Curling President (NCF), Mr Damola Daniel is featured as the Sports Personality for June 2020.
Sports247.ng top sports journalist, Mr Ubong Bassey in an exclusive interview session caught up with the NCF boss.
UBONG BASSEY – Can we get to meet you?
MR. DAMOLA DANIEL – My name is Daniel Damola. I am a Nigerian and from the two sides of the country (Nigeria). I am partly from the Yoruba side and from the Efik speaking tribe of Cross River State.
From my father’s side, I am from Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State and from my mother’s side, I am from Akpabuyo Local Government Area of Cross River State.
UBONG BASSEY – Tell us how your growing up years as a child up till now?
MR. DAMOLA DANIEL – My upbringing and growing up days was a unique one. I come from the background of a military officer (My father) as we toured around the country.
I come from a family that is into Sporting activities.
As a diasporan, I am based in Europe.
UBONG BASSEY – How did you delve into the sport of Curling?
MR. DAMOLA DANIEL – Being in the sporting world, I started playing the Sport of Curling after my daughter took me and my wife to the game to watch her play. I picked up the interest from there till now I am 50 years… (Laughs)
During my early days, I played football across European countries like Italy, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Czech Republic and so on.
After I got injured, I decided to say okay. If I cannot go further professionally, then I have to come back and do what is needful.
Either you manage this sport or you play the sport. So, I moved into the administrative part of the sport.
I and my beautiful wife, Henrietta Daniel set up a sporting company known as SRHD SPORTS Management Limited which through this sporting company, we introduced the sport, NIGERIA STRONGEST MAN FEDERATION to Nigeria.
Through SHRD Sport, my own daughter, Sheila Daniel said we should take the game of Curling to Nigeria in 2017.
UBONG BASSEY – Can you enlighten us more on this sport of Curling and how it is played?
MR. DAMOLA DANIEL – The game of Curling is a sport normally played on ice. Then, it was believed that Africa cannot play such a sport because it is traditionally for those ice countries.
But, we have come to prove that Curling can be played anywhere in the world.
The game of Curling can be played by two or more persons, two in a team(Mixed two or mixed doubles or men’s team of four-person or female team of four-person) each taking turns to throw a 40 pound Rock from one end to the other targeting the house.
In mixed twos, you have two persons a male and a female while in mixed Fours, you have two males and two females.
Curling is a game where the person throws rocks from one end to the other end, this is called the HOUSE. To score points, you need to throw your rock closer to the bull’s eye,
The team that has the most rocks closer to the bull’s eyes earns points. Each of the segment of the game is called ENDS.
We have one to eight ends or otherwise ten ends in every particular game. Hence, the team will most point to win a particular event.
In the country where the Curling game is played, what we do in Nigeria is to use the floor Curling to make sure that we train people on how to play the game which is a little different from the normal ice.
UBONG BASSEY – How has the journey been so far for you as an administrator in the sport of Curling?
MR. DAMOLA DANIEL – As an administrator, it has not been easy because managing people is the most difficult task you could ever imagine.
We the human specie are the most difficult people to relate with, you just have to be in your “A-game” to direct, manage people and have them on board on what you are doing.
At the same time, you have to be a leader, a leader must be able to solve a problem of which the remaining board members cannot solve. A leader must be someone who has the final solution to everything where others cannot deliver.
Financially, we are pouring in all we have to serve our motherland. The Nigerian Curling Federation do not have any sponsor as of today, myself, my secretary-general and my other directors have been the ones putting all that we got to promote Curling in Nigeria.
The Federal Government of Nigeria through the ministry of Sports have not supported us financially either the NOC but we have not made our official request to them.
We are trying to push our limit to see how far we can go before we can put in our official request to see where they can come in and assist if they will.
But, we believe that to achieve the incredible, you must achieve the impossible. That is our watchword.
UBONG BASSEY – How has your tenure being as the founding president of the Nigerian Curling Federation?
MR. DAMOLA DANIEL – I am the founding president of the Nigerian Curling Federation alongside my secretary-general, my wife and my daughter, Miss Sheila Daniel. Sheila was the brainchild behind the vision to create the Nigerian Curling Federation.
In 2017, she took I and my wife to a Curling game and suggested we take this game to Nigeria. We followed all the protocol to take the game to Nigeria and the rest is history.
Though I am the founding and current president of the Nigerian Curling Federation, I have not taken over from anyone so I am leading the team.
UBONG BASSEY – Any outstanding talents discovered by your federation in the grassroots level?
MR. DAMOLA DANIEL – In one of our clinic programmes done in Nigeria, we discovered two exceptionally talented Port Harcourt based female curlers named Ibiso Warmate and Deborah Alasebieton.
UBONG BASSEY – What has been done by your federation in terms of training workshops and programmes?
MR. DAMOLA DANIEL – In terms of training the locals, NCF signed an MOU partnership with countries like Italy, South Korea, USA Turkey and Canada who voluntarily opened up their facilities that any Nigerian talent we discovered from the home front, we can take them abroad to train with their facility pending when we build our facility.
If not for the COVID 19 pandemic, we were due to travel with the under 15 (U-15) talents discovered from our clinic in Nigeria.
UBONG BASSEY – NCF is executing a big project which is the building of the first-ever Ice Curling Arena in Nigeria and Africa, can you shed more light on that?
MR. DAMOLA DANIEL – In the first time in history that Nigeria, an African nation is admitted into the sport of Curling, afterwards winning a match and having our team playing lots of international games.
On the other hand, some of our plans were to build an ice arena in other to save NCF cost of taking the youths to other countries abroad to train. Leading to NCF deciding to have our own facility built in Nigeria.
We brainstormed with other colleagues of ours to look for a suitable climate, the serenity of the environment, security of the hosting state to locate this facility.
Cross River State was finally agreed as the best location to set up this facility is that it is the capital tourism of Nigeria.
NCF in collaboration with SRHD SPORTS went in, inspected so many properties, we finally bought some properties to be used for the ice arena.
We have cleared the arena project site. We have started moulding the blocks which will be used to fence the parameter. From there we will unfold the next agenda.
However, NCF have partnered with a German company called ISS who are experts in ice for the ice sheets. We have gotten the architectural designs drawn already.
We have achieved 50% of the ice arena project ongoing but to proceed to achieve the remaining 50%, we need funds. We need $6 million dollars to achieve 100% work completed in terms of groundbreaking, foundation, and building of the facility.
UBONG BASSEY – On a final note, what do you think can be done by the public, State government, LOC Federal Ministry of Sports and private sector to promote Curling in Nigeria?
MR. DAMOLA DANIEL – We ask them all to please come in, donate to our course to make the ice arena project a reality for not just us as a federation but every Nigerian.
This is a pride of Africa, the first of its kind of a facility in entire Africa. This is not for us, Nigerians but we are making Africa proud of this facility because every other African country will come to Nigeria to train with this facility.
You can imagine all the secondary schools, Universities, primary schools and even the armed forces training with this facility,
Also, the level of tourism-driven to this facility will bring gains to Cross River State. This will create employment for the state indigenes
I strongly solicit that this project should be supported by the government, private sector, companies and individuals to project the image of Nigeria.
UBONG BASSEY – Thank you for your time and patience for granting us this exclusive interview.
MR. DAMOLA DANIEL – Always my pleasure.
