The national Women’s Beach Volleyball team has expressed optimism that Nigeria will qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games scheduled for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The team’s coach, Charkuma Usmail and players currently in a training camp at the Jabi Lake Beach in Abuja ahead of the final qualifying round for the summer Olympics, told Daily Trust yesterday that they have the capacity to pick the only available slot.
Coach Usmail said the girls “are psychologically sound and physically fit and they are encouraging themselves and are ready to go to Brazil.”
While acknowledging that the Federation has been very supportive, the coach called on the National Sports Commission to provide additional funds to the federation.
The first team from the qualifying series will go to the Olympics, while the second and third teams will qualify for the World Cup and World Championship respectively.
“Our target is to go to the Olympics right from here, not to go through the World Cup or World Championship,” Usmail said.
Some of the players -Laju Isabela and Tochukwu Nnoruga who also spoke with Daily Trust after their evening training session said they have already seeing an improvement in their performance following their camping.
“I have improved since we lost the finals in the preliminary in Morocco last year. With the preparation we are having now, I’m optimistic that we will get the Olympic ticket,” Nnoruga said.
There are eight female players presently in camp ahead of the qualifiers, fighting for the available four shirts.
The team is expected to leave Abuja for Lagos before the end of the month in continuation of the camping exercise to give room for the upgrading of facilities in Abuja.
Final round of the qualifiers scheduled for 12th to 18th April, 2016 will be held in Abuja, Nigeria where the country is expected to hosts 12 other African countries.
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