Netball in Cross River: CSED Explore the State

Community Sport and Educational Development (CSED) Initiative, in partnership with Cross River State Ministry of Education, recently arranged a two-day netball seminar for P.E. teachers in Cross River State.

The U.J. Esuene Stadium\’s Table Tennis Hall in Calabar hosted the fundamental netball training event on May 2 and 3, 2024.

This program is a part of the CSED Initiative\’s \”Project 2027,\” which aims to give Nigerian schoolchildren and youths access to a safe environment where they can learn and play netball.

Netball is the only sport in the world that is specifically designed for girls and women. CSED Initiative sees the game of netball as an important tool that could be used to promote the general health and well-being of the girl child, as well as empower them to blend sports with their academic pursuit.

Along with three Cameroonian refugees who represented the Cameroonian population based in the Adagom 1, Adagom 3, and Ukende Camps in the Ogoja local government area, there were 38 participants from various secondary schools in the state.

Edema Fuludu and Dr. Grace Ataha led the program, with assistance from Ifiok Inim, a secondary school physical education teacher based in Uyo. One of the newly qualified netball coaches was Dr. Ping Osaji Nsagha from the University of Calabar\’s Human Kinetic Department.

Two students of the University of Uyo, also benefitted from this free netball training that used a manual that was developed by Ambassador Mary Waya (a Netball Africa certified instructor). The trained netball coaches were provided with a free sport shirt that was donated by Lord’s Taverners (a UK based charity).

The fundamentals of the game, applications of the rules, marking a netball court, various netball positions, and the tasks associated with these positions were all covered to the recently trained coaches.

Warming up, passing the ball, throwing the ball, limiting player movement in specific areas of the netball court, and honing throwing and scoring techniques were also discussed. A practice match between the new coaches, who were split into teams blue and purple, came next.

Another important aspect of the training was the session on safeguarding which was presented by Dr Grace Ataha. The newly trained coaches were advised that students and athletes are entitled to take part in sports in a safe environment. Access to free online safeguarding training was later provided to the newly trained netball coaches.

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One of the reasons the Ministry of Education\’s director of schools, Mrs. Okama U. Amos, approved the state\’s P.E. teacher training program was because she was thrilled to see an NGO that was passionate about implementing programs that empower and develop women. She exhorted the participants to make the most of the training and develop into trustworthy mentors in a sport that is experiencing a resurgence in Nigeria.Furthermore, she mentioned that she would work together with the Director of School Sports of the Ministry, Mr. Orlando Asuquo to monitor the use of the freely donated netball starter packs (a pair of netball rims/nets. finger held whistles, two sets of netball training bibs, and netball balls) to the representatives of the participating schools.

The Director of sports of the State Sports Commission, Mr. Moses Ita also urged the participants make good use of the knowledge gained during the training. As their post-training actions will lead to the development of the game of netball in the state. Mr. Moses Ita stated that netball will soon become a medal event in the National Sports Festival.

Mr. Moses Ita concluded by expressing his gratitude to the State Sports Commission participant for attending and making a commitment to assist in bringing the sport to schools in other local government areas that were not represented at the seminar.