Nigeria produces first homegrown World Rugby Educators
Nigeria has taken a significant step forward in the development of rugby with the emergence of the country’s first locally trained World Rugby educators.
The milestone is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s coaching and refereeing structures while reducing the country’s dependence on foreign educators for technical development programmes.
Speaking during a technical development programme organised by the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation (NRFF) in Abuja, World Rugby East and Southern Africa Game Growth Manager Robert Bwari hailed the progress made by the country in recent years.
“I am happy about the level Nigeria has reached in the past years. Now Nigeria has World Rugby educators who can train coaches and referees locally,” Bwari said.
He added that World Rugby would continue to provide supervision and support as the newly qualified educators take greater responsibility for technical development programmes across the country.
The three-day programme covered key areas including coaching, match officiating, first aid in rugby and safeguarding, attracting about 80 participants from across Nigeria.
NRFF President Ademola Are urged the participants to take the knowledge gained back to their communities and use it to contribute to the growth of the sport.
“Go back and impact your communities because rugby needs you. Without you, rugby cannot make headway,” Are said.
Also speaking, NRFF board member and World Rugby-certified instructor Wuraola Hussain described the programme as an important foundation for the technical growth of Nigerian rugby.
Hussain expressed confidence that the participants would pass on their newly acquired knowledge to coaches, officials and players in their respective communities and states, helping to raise the standard of the game across the country.
The development of local World Rugby educators represents another step in the NRFF’s broader efforts to build sustainable technical capacity.
With more qualified Nigerian coaches, referees and educators emerging, the federation hopes to take rugby beyond its traditional strongholds, strengthen its grassroots structure and improve the country’s competitiveness on the African and international stage.
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