Joe Apu
The technical crew members of the Nigeria Women’s national team, D’ Tigress have confessed that selecting the 12-man squad for the final flight to Tenerife, Spain for the 2018 FIBA World Cup amongst the 22 players presently in camp is putting them at their wits ends.
Assistant coach of team, Peter Ahmedu admits that picking the final squad will be a difficult task given the intensity of the girls in camp.
Speaking from their Atlanta, USA camp as preparation hots up, he said the mood has been at an all-time high with players on the same page with the Technical crew.
“It has been a difficult one for us here because of the level of competition between the new and the old fighting to pick up shirts to the world championship in Spain. The players are competing hard in order to pick a shirt and make it to the second phase of the screening which will eventually be in Lagos from the 19th of August.
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Ahmedu said the recall of 10 players out of the 12 that won the 2017 Afrobasket Championship in Mali has impacted greatly on the continued development of the team.
He marveled at the level of match fitness and alertness compared to what the technical crew saw in 2017.
He confirmed that the duo of Nkechi Akashili and Nkem Akaraiwe who could not get United States visa will join the team when the second phase of training starts in Lagos.
Ahmedu lamented the refusal of the US embassy to issue visas to the two players, but he is optimistic that as core professionals, they would not be deterred by setback.
Nigeria is paired in Group B alongside Argentina and Turkey, the current African champions will start its World Cup campaign against Australia on Saturday, 22nd of September.