jamal 
Volleyball referees Okita Comfort Agbo
(right) and Busari Abdulateef
BY ABUSOLA TEMITOPE JOHNSON
The ongoing World ParaVollyey Level I Course for African Referees and Coaches has been described as a lifetime opportunity for the participants to expose themselves to the latest trends in the game.
The Level 1 Course, the first development course for Referees and Coaches in Africa, is holding at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos and it will end on Sunday.
Some of the participants, especially the referees, who spoke on the inherent gains and the adding value of the Course to their career, felt excited that they could be counted worthy to be part of the training.
To Okita Comfort Agbo, who came from Port Harcourt, Rivers State for the training in Lagos, she was happy that she is attending an international course of this nature.
Comfort, who is still playing active volleyball said that she learned new things in officiating the game of volleyball being played by special players.
“This is a good opportunity for me, as a player now into refereeing in the sport. There are a few things that are special to ParaVolley that I didn’t know before, and this course has availed me the opportunity of getting to know those things. The way the abled body players play is quite different from the para players. I think I will be going back home fully loaded with quite a lot of things,” said Comfort, who had played in the Nigerian University Games NUGA for the University of Agriculture, Makurdi in Benue State.
Busari Abdulateef, who came to Lagos from faraway Kaduna State said the game will be better off after this Level 1 course, even as he vowed that he would try his best to be among the lucky five that will be selected for the Level 02 course by the World ParaVolleyball
Abdulateef described his experience in the weeklong course as awesome, adding that kudos must be given to the Nigeria Para Sitting Volleyball Federation which facilitated the training for the Nigerian officials.
A board member of the federation who is also the Players’ representative on the board, Opeoluwa Oduneye said the sport, especially the players, would be better off after the course as both coaches and referees, would have gotten modern know-how to handle the players henceforth.
“We cannot but thank the World ParaVolleyball for bringing this noble course to Nigeria and I want to say that the participants have received good exposure from the foreign instructors,” Oduneye, a Lagos State player
The Level 1 Course was primarily targeted and focused on Nigeria, as the World ParaVolleyball confirmed Nigeria as Africa’s powerhouse for the sport.
The participants will be awarded an internationally recognized certificate after the course.
Apart from encouraging athletes‘ development at the national level through the course, creating educational and training opportunities for the officials will aid the growth of the sport at the international level.
