Handball: Opeifa tourney for Lagos schools holds Tuesday

Forty-two males and 38 female schools have indicated interest in this year’s Opeifa Cup Handball competition for secondary schools in Lagos.

The tournament holds between May 16 and 21 at the Rowe Park Sports Centre in Yaba, Lagos.

At an event heralding the second edition of the contest, organised in conjunction with the Lagos State Handball Association, the chairperson of the Association, Ms Adeola Opeifa, said the competition is organised in commemoration of Comrade Kayode Opeifa’s 51st birthday, who is a patron of the Association.

“This competition is also being staged in commemoration of the 51st anniversary of Mr. Opeifa tagged: Opeifa Cup, which will commence on May 16 and end on the 21.

“The drought of quality players in the game of handball has been the reason behind this competition, which the sponsor has promised to continue for the next 10 years, starting from last year. He intends to make it a South West competition and some years to come, God’s willing a national event,” she said.

According to Opeifa, the intention to sponsor the competition was to discover talents from the grassroots and to make sure that they do not fizzle out.

“Our intention is to discover talents from the grassroots and get handball represented at the 2022 Olympics. We also want to make sure that we bring handball to be the number one laurel winning sport in the country, which will be second only to football.

“We will be looking for sponsorship in subsequent editions so that students can be assisted in whatever areas they need assistance in the course of their studies. If basketball can be at the Olympics, handball too can also be there. After all Akeem Olajuwon started in handball before switching over to the game of basketball,” Opeifa said.