Nigerian Secondary School Flag Football League kicks off Season 5 with ₦3.7m prize pool

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The Nigerian Secondary School Flag Football League (NSSFFL) will begin its fifth season on Tuesday, with organisers promising cash rewards for top-performing schools and renewed efforts to expand opportunities for young athletes.

Nancy Damhindi, vice president of the Nigerian American Football Association (NAFA), said the competition has become a structured school-sports programme that connects students, schools, coaches, and communities through flag football.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Monday, Ms Damhindi said the new season would build on the league’s progress while strengthening grassroots development and educational opportunities for student-athletes.

The preliminary competitions will lead to Aketi Bowl IV, the national championship scheduled for 17–20 November in Abuja.

League coordinator Oluwatobi Abe said the participating locations were selected following preseason assessments and development activities designed to determine which areas were ready to host competitive tournaments.

The locations announced for the preliminaries are Oyo, Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Benue, Cross River, Bayelsa, and Kwara states, along with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Mr Abe, popularly known as Coach Tobi, said NAFA had conducted activation and reinforcement exercises in areas where the sport had previously been introduced.

“We were very intentional as to our developmental pathway,” he said, adding that the association used its assessments to select locations ready for the competitions.

Mr Abe said the first-placed teams in the boys’ and girls’ divisions at the national championship would each receive ₦1 million.

The runners-up in both divisions will receive ₦500,000 each, while the third-placed teams will get ₦350,000 each, bringing the total prize money to ₦3.7 million.

He clarified that no prize money would be awarded at the state-level preliminaries, where the emphasis would remain on participation and identifying schools to represent their respective locations at the national tournament.

Mr Abe said the clarification followed questions about prize money during the previous season’s qualifiers.

The preliminary competitions are scheduled to run from 20 to 30 October, beginning in Oyo State at Bishop Phillips Academy, Iwo Road.

Other venues include Community Secondary Commercial School in Akwa Ibom; Government Secondary School, Garki, in the FCT; CMS Grammar School, Bariga, in Lagos; and St Peter’s Secondary School, Akure, in Ondo State.

Kwara will host its competition at Queen Elizabeth Secondary School, Ilorin, on 26 October, followed by Ogun on 27 October at St Peter’s Unity College, Abeokuta. Benue’s games are scheduled for 28 October at Goldman Secondary School, Gboko, while Bayelsa will conclude the preliminary schedule on 30 October at Bellary International Schools, Yenagoa. Cross River will also host its competition during the schedule.

Beyond the competition, NAFA seeks to create educational and international opportunities for participating students.

Mr Abe said Unique Open University has supported the league since its pilot season in Lagos in 2022, offering scholarships to outstanding teams.

Initially, scholarships were available to the first-, second- and third-placed teams in both divisions. From the second season, however, the awards were limited to the national champions in the boys’ and girls’ categories.

He said recipients could, with their parents, decide whether to study at the sponsoring institution or pursue other educational plans.

Mr Abe cited Divine Ayogu, a former Baptist Academy player who participated in the league’s pilot season and later represented Nigeria at the national team level, as an example of the opportunities the sport could provide.

He said a partnership with Nigerian American Football Outreach helped Ayogu secure a scholarship in the United States.

NAFA is also developing an under-13 programme to introduce younger children to the sport through the storybook Jojo and the Winning Play, alongside plans for a collegiate league.

Ms Damhindi said flag football’s scheduled debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games could offer another pathway for Nigerian athletes, though qualification would depend on the applicable process.

Ms Damhindi acknowledged the Nigerian School Sport Federation (NSSF) as a key partner in organising the competition and connecting it to the country’s school-sports system.

She also highlighted support from Browns Nigeria and NFL FLAG through the One Ball, One Flag, One Future initiative, which provides about 2,000 American footballs and 5,000 flag football kits.

During the question-and-answer session, Segun Omodunni, representing the NSSF president, said school principals were required to confirm students’ enrolment before they could represent their schools, with state-level officials also involved in the verification process.

The organisers said their immediate priority was to deliver credible competitions and give students opportunities to develop their skills, pursue education, and progress toward national and international competition.

Tunde Eludini is a graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria where he studied International Relations. He is a Senior Correspondent coordinating the sports section for PREMIUM TIMES. Twitter: @tundeyeludini

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