Former Malawi and Tanzania national netball coach, Mary Waya has answered the SOS call of the netball community in Nigeria, as she arrived Benin City on Monday evening in order to facilitate a five day netball seminar for P.E. practitioners in Edo State that will hold in Benin City from 3rd to 7th March 2020. Mary Waya who has about ten years coaching experience would be using the INF (International Netball Federation) curriculum, as she is one of the few INF accredited Instructors that is based In Africa.
This training event which is supported by three government agencies (Ministry of Education, Edo State Sports Commission and Edojobs Agency) is put together by CSED (Community Sports and Educational Development) Initiative, a CAC registered NGO that uses sports to promote literacy and the social well-being of Nigerian children and youths. The seminar is expected to be attended by 35 (thirty-five) P.E. practitioners from Benin City and environs. Some P.E. practitioners from Delta, Lagos, and Akwa Ibom States, as well as from Abuja are also expected to attend this seminar.
CSED Trustees, Cornelius Ehimiaghe stated that holding this training seminar would be the foundation of CSED ambitious plan to reclaim Nigerian netball from “ground zero” to beyond the level it used to be in the 1970s when netball was the second most popular girls’ sports in Nigeria. It was at that time even more popular than female football. To at CSED, “netball is not just about sport; it is about giving girls the opportunity to take part in sports in a safe environment. It is about empowering girls, as well as promoting their physical, social, emotional health and well-being.”
CSED recently built the first netball court that has been constructed in Nigeria since 1986 and this facility which is based at the IDPs Camp in Uhogua is expected to host the practical aspect of this seminar.
CSED is currently in discussion with Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), Association of Former Female Athletes of Nigeria (AFFAN) and other NGOs in order to promote grassroots netball development in schools in Nigeria. Furthermore, these group of progressives will soon be liaising with the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports in their bid to formally invite the INF global development Team to visit Nigeria later in the year, in order to develop the capacities of P.E. practicitioners, who are expected to become future netball coaches and umpires in Nigeria.
