Why handball is dying in Nigeria- Mark Jacob
How did you get into the game of handball and how far did you go as an active player? I hail from Kaduna State and I played handball throughout my school days. I played for Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and participated in local and international competitions at the school level. After graduation, I did not […]
How did you get into the game of handball and how far did you go as an active player?
I hail from Kaduna State and I played handball throughout my school days. I played for Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and participated in local and international competitions at the school level. After graduation, I did not continue playing but for the past years, I have been actively involved in administering the game. Between 2008 and 2009 when the former governor of Bauchi State, Adamu Muazu stepped down as president of the handball federation, I moved from the position of vice-president to president of the sport federation. Presently, I am deeply involved with the veterans club here in Abuja.
What is the main objective of the Abuja veterans handball club and do you have similar clubs across the country?
The idea of having veteran clubs across the country was one of my initiatives when I served as president of the Handball Federation of Nigeria. This is Abuja veterans club and we have others in Lagos, Makurdi, Ilorin, Jos and other state capitals. Once in a while we come together for the good of the game. The idea is for us former players to have a forum where we can come together and give support to present handball players. We give support to the handball federation financially and otherwise using all the connections and relationships we have as individuals. Some of us occupy key positions in government, some of us are in the banks and we can render useful assistance. So our intention is that the federation would benefit from the existence of such clubs and we are trying to experiment with Abuja veterans. We would soon roll out a programme where we would sponsor championships within Abuja and environs. It may interest you to know that apart from playing locally, we have played international friendly matches against countries like Ghana and Togo.
Are you very satisfied with the development of handball in the country?
No! no !! handball is down down. Far far below where I expect it to be. And it is a sad thing that even today you find out that we are still recycling players using people who are supposed to be coaches and administrators. They still come to the national camp. I think one of the very serious challenges is the absence of technical know how. I believe strongly that the kind of coaches that are in charge of the game now are largely responsible for the poor standing of the game. Many of them are not current with events locally and internationally. Unfortunately, you can only offer what you have. So the level of input to the players is quite poor and so it is garbage in garbage out. It is like the computer.
Apart from talks about going back to the grassroots, how can the lost glory in handball be restored?
The shopping ground for players is naturally the schools. I believe that the absence of constant competitions for institutions of learning, that is secondary schools and higher institutions of learning is responsible for non discovery of talents. School sports should be revived and encouraged. Some of us were discovered at the school levels. I never knew handball until I got to school. I used to play basketball but they came to basketball court and took some of us from where we were introduced to handball. That has died. Coaches now depend on ready made players. They go round poaching players.
Talking about talents hunt, would you say the National Sports Festival is being put to good use?
I don’t think so. Like the National Sports Festival that has just ended in Port-Harcourt, I was there and I could see players that played for Kano, Kaduna, or Niger state at the last sports festival in Kaduna playing for Rivers, Oyo Ondo or other states, They move to where money is flowing. Rivers State for instance took a large chunk of players from Kaduna and other states. That is the problem. The sports festival is supposed to be where you celebrate your state. You have the opportunity of bringing your own people to show case them but today you have coaches being given money to run round the country to look for the best materials from other states. Such athletes that are poached are used but dumped after the games.
In view of what you have said, would you advise the National Sports Commission to make it a rule that any athlete taking part in the festival must represent his or her state of origin?
It depends on a few things too. The state governors would have to stop this idea of saying if a team doesn’t win, it is not going to be sponsored. You know the most win approach is one of the issues that need to be changed. You don’t tell a team that they must win. You must not tell a coach that if he doesn’t win, he would be redeployed or send out of work. If the right structures are laid, it would not be wrong for such a rule to be introduced. The policy needs to be clearly spelt out. It is completely wrong to have a situation where by over night, you just go and bring people from elsewhere to come and wear the colours of your state and you are happy about it.
What legacies would you say you left behind during the short period you presided over the handball federation?
My greatest joy is that we were able to sponsor competitions. I was president for just one year and few months but within that short period, we had several national championships. We organized over six competitions. I adopted different forms of sponsorships. There was no money but out of the little I had as an individual and sometimes support from friends, we achieved a lot. The federation also encouraged sponsors to brand venues and they in turn gave us support in different ways. We also got the state governments to pay for some of our needs. During our time, clubs from all over the country were always trooping to Kaduna for competitions and the national teams were never out of championships. We also discovered and brought in new coaches. Through the veterans initiative, we brought back some of the ex-players to assist with the development of the game. It was a short period and we did not have enough time to work on several ideas we had.