HFN Concludes 1st Handball Female Coaches Education Course In Lagos

HFN (Handball Federation of Nigeria) has concluded the first Handball Female Coaches Education Course for women handball coaches in the country.

The course which began last Thursday and ended on Wednesday was put together by HFN and sponsored by the Premier League sponsor Ardova PLC with an objective to identify, support and encourage willing potential female coaches among the young.

Also aging and ex-players to take coaching as a profession as well as to encourage and prepare potential female coaches before their retirement from active participation as players to choose coaching as a career.

The course was also put together to  enhance capacity and update competencies among female coaches as well as to put in place a strategic plan for continuous updating of technical and tactical capacity of female coaches.

The Chairperson, Women Development and Welfare Commission of the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Dr. (Mrs.) Esther Oluwatoyin Aluko while speaking to HFN TV, said the Federation decided to hold this course around the time of the second phase of the Ardova Handball Premier League 2023.

This is because of the concern that the number of women in the coaching profession in Nigeria Handball is insignificant when compared to their male counterparts despite the successes of women in handball.

“We at the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN) understands that coaching is a vital aspect of high performance and that high quality coaching is fundamental to helping the players get to the podium of success”.

“We believe women are untapped resource that would help widen the female talent pool for prospective coaches and are better placed to understand the psychological and social pressures female players may experience better than their male counterparts.” Dr. Aluko said

“Despite the modest achievement recorded by women in handball, they are still grossly underrepresented in the coaching profession and most times female players after they have been groomed to elite athlete status, just fade away or are lost to other professions due to lack of encouragement to take coaching as a career”. 

“The implication is that at an all-female players’ event, male coaching crew is in charge, thus making the female players vulnerable to harassment and abuse. This we wanted to change hence the need for this course”.

Dr. Aluko also stated that the HFN supported by the Premier League sponsor Ardova PLC, is determined to continue to train more female coaches so they can have more opportunities on the international stage and to conform to the new rules by the world Handball body IHF

“It has become expedient for the Federation to train and develop more female coaches in order to conform to the International Handball Federation (IHF) documented rule that states that “as from the year 2024, coaches that are not licensed by the (IHF) will not be allowed on the bench of a team during international competitions”.

“The HFN is actively promoting coaching as a career option and developing appropriate support programmes for women with the full support of her major sponsor, Ardova Plc to prevent the Federation from losing considerable competitive experience and the female players choosing other professions at the end of their playing careers”. She concluded.

The 1st Handball Female Coaches Education Course which was held at the National Institute of Sports campus in Lagos saw top coaching instructors from the Confederation of Africa Handball (CAHB) and the International Handball Federation (IHF) as facilitators of the course and it was attended by top female handball coaches.