President of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria, Francis Orbih President of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria, Francis Orbih

BFN president Orbih calls for women participation in Badminton

Published in local Written by  April 29 2020 font size decrease font size increase font size 0
Rate this item
(0 votes)

By Reliance Udoenyin

President of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria, (BFN) Francis Orbih has encouraged more female players to participate in  badminton stressing that the game at the moment lacks more female participation compared to their male counterpart.

 

In an exclusive interview with Today Sportslive of Today FM, Orbih emphasized the need to have more female players that will emulate the example of Obiagheli Solaja who has just been bestowed the 2019 African Women in Badminton award by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA).

 

Orbih commended Solaja saying the award was well deserved. He said; "I'll say that it was a well deserved award because this particular board member, I mean looking at her antecedence and where she's coming from  in the game and also what she's done. In recent times, apart from being a board member, she's the chairperson of event planning committee. She has played a very major role in most of the events and programs we've run as a federation since we came on board. So, in as much as I said I wasn't really expecting it because I didn't know what the process was like and the criteria for selection but when it came I'll tell you that I was not really surprised."

 

Solaja who becomes the second recipient of the award following that of Gretha Prinsloo of South Africa (won in 2018) is a 7-time African women's Champion and a 10-time Nigeria national champion in her playing days and one of the pioneer players of badminton when the game first featured at the Olympics in 1996.

 

In a letter jointly signed by Michel Bau, president of the BCA and Meneoang Leshota, Chairperson, Women in Badminton dated 18th April 2020 conveying the award on Solaja, the BCA said the award is meant "to celebrate outstanding women in Africa who have contributed to the development of badminton in Africa" adding that "her enormous contributions to the success of the 2019 All Africa Senior Championships in April 2019 held in Port Harcourt, Nigeria" was one of the reasons for her choice as an awardee.

 

Heaping praises on Solaja now an administrator as board member of the BFN representing South East zone, Orbih believes the award will spur more women in Badminton realizing the reward that lies ahead. 

 

 

"Being an award that is recognizing women in Badminton, I think motivation will be geared more toward encouraging females' players now to come up because it's an area that I can tell you that as a federation we're not very happy and comfortable about. Our female players are not as many as the male. It's an area that we really want to improve upon. So, this award will be a boost. It will inspire and motivate at least the female players knowing that if you put in a lot of effort and you work hard the reward will be there and you'll be recognized in due course. So, it'll have that positive effect in terms of getting more women to participate and to dedicate their time to the development and growth of the game," he stated.

 

Orbih therefore encouraged and assured that the federation under his leadership will continue "to create an enabling environment for more women to get involved in the administration of the game" especially ex players. 

 

On how players are keeping fit within the period of this Covid-19 pandemic, the BFN president said, "Our major concern right now as a federation is the safety of our players and all our officials and every member of the Badminton family. We're encouraging, sending out messages to them and then we're also making sure that they're keeping fit. So, we're sending them programs to run in the house without having to go to the court to play, do things that will keep you physically fit and mentally alert," he confirmed.

 

Lagos International Badminton Classics scheduled for 1st to 4th of July was postponed by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Orbih assured that this might hold later in the year but will be subject to the COVID-19 situation in the country.

Read 1157 times Last modified on Last modified on April 29 2020

Leave a comment

Make sure you enter all the required information, indicated by an asterisk (*). HTML code is not allowed.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Recent Twitter Posts

Facebook