By Seun Adams
The Community Sports and Educational Development (CSED) Initiative has facilitated the admission of four (4) of the twenty-one secondary school students who participated in the 12-week long Sporting Coders pilot programme are now currently studying in various Nigerian Universities.
The Sporting Coders programme involved the netballers of Tare Pet Montessori Group of Schools in Yenagoa, Capital of Bayelsa State, combining netball training with learning how to code.
The pilot project which was designed and powered by CSED Initiative was implemented by Funsho Ekundayo and Victoria Allison Ayebaifie (netball coaches) and Humphrey Okonkwo Nnaemeka (IT teacher) and was managed by Catherine Sasuode.
The financial investment on Information Technology (IT) infrastructure by the proprietor of the school, Mrs. Victoria Ebimenere Mologe, was the foundation for the success of the sporting Coders pilot programme.
The names of the former beneficiaries of the Sporting Coders programme who are now undergraduate students are: Victory Woyengipreye Gesiye: Medicine at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State for the 2024/2025, Wisdom Alaere Nathan: Political Science at Niger Delta University, Amassoma, Bayelsa State, 2024/2025, Chloe Woyengidoubara Gesiye: Pharmacy, at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State also for 2024/2025 and Victory Peremoboerei Wenibowei: Micro biology at the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Rivers state, 2025.
The Sporting Coders programme was specifically designed to give the girl child access to learn new skills, while at the same time enjoying taking part in sports in a safe and nurturing space.
It was also designed to address the under-representation of girls in Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses.
The pilot project used the medium of netball, a once almost extinct sport in Nigeria, as a platform for advocating for and empowering the girl-child.
It would be recall that during the period of the sporting Coders programme, the 21 students were on two separate occasions given N10, 000.00 (Ten thousand naira educational voucher), as well as free lunch during the 12 Saturdays that they attended the programme.
Furthermore, CSED Initiative has fulfilled their promise of giving N50, 000.00 (Fifty thousand naira) each to any of the pioneering cohort that gain admission into a tertiary institution.
Meanwhile, seven members of the netball team of Tare Pet School are currently in their final year and CSED Initiative is expected to deliver their promise to these students in future.
Speaking with our Reporter, a trustee of CSED Initiative stated: “We will try to deliver our promise to the netballers. We do not have to beg, steal or borrow to do so.
“All we have to do is to reduce the quantity and quality of eba and soup we usually eat.
“The management of Tare Pet School, their parents, members of the Naija Netball Stakeholders and the sports for change activists in Nigeria are proud of these pioneering students.
“They have indeed proved that they are not just champions on the netball court, they are also academic and community ambassadors of the game of netball, which is currently taking baby steps in Nigeria.”
On the future plans of taking the sporting Coders training to other parts of the country, the trustee of CSED Initiative stated: “It is gradual process because it is cash intensive it involves a lot of factors (access to electricity, availability of IT teachers and access to computer desktops/laptops) that are outside our control.”
“However, they disclose that through partnership with the Francis and Fidelia Ibhawoh Foundation, the Sporting Coders programme is slated to hold before the end of this year in St. Maria Goretti Girls Grammar School in Benin City, Edo State.
The University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) Secondary School Nsukka, is also in pole position for the Sporting Coders programme. As part of our responsibility to take sporting and educational opportunities to at risk and vulnerable communities, we are likely to take the Sporting Coders training to IDPs Uhogua (Benin City) and the Cameroonian refugees’ community and their host community in Ogoja (Cross River State).
But for netballers in the last two locations, CSED Initiative, said they would need to reach a working agreement with the management of IDPs Uhogua, as well as with SEMA, the sport committees of the Cameroonian refugees, representative of the host community and the UNHCR Ogoja. As this is the only way we can ensure that everybody is carried along in order to achieve successful outcomes for the programme beneficiaries in future.”
Recall that CSED Initiative is a sport for change Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) with a mission to use Nigerian children and youth participating in sports related activities to promote literacy and their social well-being. Its primary goal is to develop well balanced future sports men and women.
The NGO also aims at using sports to empower young persons to fulfil their potentials and achieve their dream of earning a living, while representing Nigeria in international sporting competitions.
