Basketball: Erinfolami Poised To Retain League Title

Head coach of First Deepwater club of Lagos, Lateef Erinfolami, has reiterated his side’s commitment to retain the Zenith Women’s Premier League trophy they won last year.

The Nkechi Akashili captained First Deepwater dethroned former champions, First Bank of Lagos in last year’s edition of the women’s league, in what many pundits of the slamming and dunking game described as a welcome development. First Bank had dominated the domestic league for over a decade, a situation many felt could adversely affect the development of the game in the country.

Ahead of the start of the third phase of the league that dunks off this weekend in Lagos, coach Erinfolami told SP.M.Sports yesterday that their aim is to retain the trophy .

He said: “We are leaving nothing to chance to meet our set goals.”

Reacting to a report that the team had been training in darkness inside the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Erinfolami blamed the financial state of the club for the situation which could affect the players’ performance in the tournament.

“It is a bad situation and we all know that. But we have to bear it. We need at least N4,000 to buy fuel for every training but we can’t afford it. So we have to accept and deal with the situation,” said the former national team player.

Despite this, the coach is optimistic that the team will work very hard to retain the title.

“We will do our best to retain the title, though it is not easy. We will do our best. I have been talking to the players so that this problem will not affect their morale when the tourney starts,” he said.

Erinfolami, who was part of the D’Tigers team to the 1999 All Africa Games in South Africa called on the Sports Ministry to assist clubs and federations by making training facilities more conducive for athletes so that Nigerian sports can develop.

—Bamidele Olowosagba