2018 National Sports Festival: Adeniyi Praises Players For Volleyball Gold Medal

Ondo StateVolley Ball Coach Adekalu Joseph Adeniyi has praised his players for emerging victorious in the final of the Men’s Volley Ball event at the 2018 National Sports Festival (NSF) in Abuja.

The men from Ondo saw off their counterparts from Plateau State in two straight sets to win gold at the 19th NSF and Adeniyi described himself as “excited” with the feat. 

“Well I have to give all the glory to God,” he told busybuddiesng.com.“I’m so excited for this winning, it’s wonderful you will see that the team we played [were] very strong but at the end of the day we were able to finish them.”

The veteran coach was particularly complimentary of the efforts of his players in securing the victory, highlighting the team spirit in his squad and saying that he “liked them”.

“Those boys are marvellous,” he said about his players, “they are ever ready players. Every time you need them you can see that when one is not working another person is always ready by the time you call on the person again he’s ready they are ever ready players I like them.”

Adeniyi pointed out that being able to compete in a number of tournaments in the lead up to the 19th NSF was good preparation and a contributing factor to their victory.

“We have gone a long way by the Grace of God,” he says. “After our elimination at Ibadan, we went for a championship in Cotonou (Benin Republic), then from there to the Shell organised tournament in Port-Harcourt where we won the tournament and from there we came for this tournament.”

The coach though, was critical of the “somehow” standard of officiating in the final which he alleged could have cost his team the victory.

“The officiating was somehow bad, they wanted to fumble the whole programme but we thank God that at the end of the day the whole thing was resolved and the victory was won.”