Lagos State Handball Association (LSHA), host of National Handball Championships says the set rules of the sport will be strictly observed at the competition, scheduled for April 6 to April 15.
The U-12 and U-15 competition will hold at Mobolaji Johnson Sports Center, Rowe Park, Yaba in Lagos.
Chukwuemeka Duru, the Technical Director of LSHA, on Wednesday in Lagos noted that age categories had been given, hence participating teams were required to comply accordingly.
He said that in spite of its being an open championships, measures would still be put in place to ensure that only players who fall within the age categories would participate.
“We have rolled out the championships requirements which have been passed across associations concerning their teams, essentially on the age specifications, it’s an area which we will pay attention to.
“The reason we are emphasising on the age is to make the championships a fair platform whereby players of specified age categories compete favourably without any form of intimidation.
“Being a technical area, there will be stages of screening because we are not going to approve participation based on the data on their forms, that we want to make clear,’’ he said.
Duru further explained that any team observed and confirmed to be acting contrary to the championships’ rules would be disqualified by the Local Organising Committee (LOC).
According to him, the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN) endorsed championships were part of the programmes to identity talents, reposition the sport and replace ageing players.
“This is a national programme and we have a common objective of taking the HFN board to the next level by giving our best in this championships and series of events to come.
“Most associations have registered their teams which shows that they are also eager to expose and improve the current form of their players, which is a welcome development,’’ he added.
The LSHA director added that certified officials would be in strategic positions to look out for players with exceptional performance during the matches.
NAN