The National Sports Commission (NSC) has pledged to support teenage tennis sensation Khadijat Eleojo Mohammed in line with its catch-them-young policy.
The 15-year-old Khadijat is the first West or Central African player to win the ITF J30 World Tour. Aged 14 in 2023, she is the first teenager to win the Dala Tennis, a title she retained this year and has also won as a professional, the Dala Hard Court title back-to-back.
Khadijat’s father and coach, Mohammed Ohinoyi, a certified ITF coach and a former professional tennis player, during a visit to the NSC Chairman, Mallam Dikko has appealed to for support in other for her ward to take her tennis to the next level.
An impressed Mallam Dikko, said the NSC will ensure that Khadijat’s fulfil her full potentials, adding the teenager would be shortlisted for the adopt-an-athlete initiative.
He said: “I am quite impressed with what you have been able to do with your tennis career. No doubt you deserve all the encouragement and support that you can get. Even if you didn’t come here, I am sure we would have found you along the line.
“I will make sure we support and help you to be the best you can be. Obviously the potentials are there. For you to be winning big tournaments professionally at such a young age, the future is very bright. We will support you so that you don’t fall by the wayside.
“This is in line with our grassroots program. We are embarking on a vigorous exercise to discover younger talents to take over from the older athletes. We are doing this across all sports. And here you are. Be rest assured that we will carry you on our wings.”
The NSC Chairman instantly assigned an aide, Bar. Musa Amadu to follow up on Khadijat and provide updates.
“Since you train in our facility here at the MKO Abiola Stadium, we will come to watch. Be rest assured that we will keep a tab on you. We will follow your progress in the tournaments and circuits. You quite align with our vision to catch them young. We would be doing aggressive grassroots sports development as part of the overall vision, so you have come to the right place at the right time. We will ensure you are properly guided and your dreams activated”, he added.
Dikko cautioned her against dumping the nation afterwards.
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“Be careful, it is not after we have pushed you up now, tomorrow, you say you are representing another country. You are laughing now, it’s not funny. Not after we have done all the hard work now, tomorrow another country will come and reap where they didn’t sow, ” he concluded.
Earlier, Amadu had hammered on the need to support Khadijat.
He said: “Nigeria has a potential tennis great here. I know the difficulties that players face when they come out and want to turn professional and create a name for themselves on the circuit. Funding is the key problem here. Without sufficient funding, the player’s natural talent will just fizzle away. So many had fallen by the way side because of improper funding. For a player like her to make the desired impact, we need to get her probably registered in an academy in the Spain because most players making the desired inroads are in academies in Spain, Germany where she can train with other top players and develop. In Spain, they have all sorts of academies and all sorts of clay courts and she will be able to participate in ITF Junior tournaments and aspire to break into the Grand Slams.
“Competitions will make her to develop appropriately. Without competitions, players become complacent and feel they are the best in the little space they find themselves. It is heart-warming that at 15, she has already conquered Nigeria and with a potential to conquer Africa. But she needs to be properly supported to bring more honour to the country.”
While appealing for the Commission’s support, Ohinoyi said: “We as her parents have done our best, we can no longer take her beyond here. The remaining is in the hands of the National Sports Commission. That is why we are here. We have come because we don’t have the capacity to continue with her.”
Khadijat added: “If I am supported to get up there, I will also like to lift others and help them to make it in tennis. I want to be a source of inspiration to young tennis players in Nigeria.”