Opeifa Handball Champioships: Principal says school determined to win back trophy

Handball
By Millicent Ifeanyichukwu
Lagos, May 31, 2019 (NAN) Archdeacon Adelaja Senior High School handball team, back to back winners of the 2016 and 2017 edition of the Opeifa Handball Championships, say they are determined to win back the trophy lost in 2018.

Olubunmi Onagbesan , the Principal of Archdeacon Adelaja Senior High School, Lagos, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos that the reorganised school team was training hard and the players in high spirit ahead of the championships.

Onagbesan said that the team was also being supervised by a well experienced coach in the sport.

“As a matter of fact, handball is given priority in our activities as a school, and it was that foundation that made us to have a standard school team.

“We are two-time winners of Opeifa handball championships and we missed it last year due to some technical lapses which have been cautiously addressed in the course of our training.

“So, this time around, we are coming back fully prepared and the players in the team are resolved to take our usual first position by lifting the 2019 trophy,’’ she said.

Onagbesan said that several new players, who had trained with the 2016 and 2017 set of players, would form the nucleus of the team that would be presented in the forthcoming edition.

According to her, the Lagos State Handball Association (LSHA) allows only players that are present students of the school; hence the players were trained to replace the players that have graduated.

“The players in the team are relatively new but have been in the picture as they were trained along with the senior players who have completed their academic year in the school.

“Even during break and sporting activities in the school premises, they assemble themselves because Coach Lucas Honvo is always around to coach them on the rules and techniques,’’ the principal added.

Meanwhile, Adeola Opeifa, Chairperson of LSHA and organisers of the annual championships, told NAN that the 2019 edition would hold in June at Rowe Park Sports Centre, Yaba.

NAN reports that Opeifa Cup is a Lagos State Secondary Schools Handball Championships, which began in 2015 and has held annually, sponsored by Kayode Opeifa, a patron of the LSHA.(NAN)
MIL/AOS/SOA
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Edited by Bayo Sekoni/Oluwole Sogunle