NAFA flags off national school league finals

The Nigerian American Football Association has officially opened the national finals of the Nigerian Secondary School Flag Football League Season 4, marking another milestone in the sport’s rapid expansion across the country.

Briefing the media at the opening ceremony, Oluwaseye Obatolu, vice president of NAFA, said the league has grown into a national, data-driven development platform leveraging sport to empower young Nigerians.

Obatolu said participation has expanded from a handful of schools to a nationwide competition, with 11 states competing in the preliminaries and seven states qualifying for the 2025 AKITI Bowl III finals.

The finalists—Oyo, Ondo, Kwara, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and the FCT—will present both male and female teams, a structure Obatolu described as evidence of “a deeper talent pool and rising nationwide enthusiasm.”

According to NAFA, flag football has become one of the fastest-growing school sports in Nigeria due to its affordability, inclusiveness and strong emphasis on teamwork and leadership.

The vice president highlighted increasing scholarship opportunities, formal officiating and coaching clinics, and a growing pipeline linking Nigerian student-athletes to international platforms.

He also paid tribute to the late Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, NAFA’s founding chairman, describing the AKETI Bowl as a living testament to his legacy of structure, discipline and youth development.

This year’s finals will feature special empowerment segments for young women under the GRIDIRON’s GEM initiative, including seminars on leadership, mentorship, hygiene and personal development. A parallel programme for male athletes will also run during the tournament.

“Flag football is a classroom without walls. Here, students learn strategy, communication, fairness under pressure, and respect for rules,” Obatolu added.

Representing Olabisi Joseph, President of the Nigerian School Sports Federation, Emmanuel Ibong, the vice president, reaffirmed the federation’s commitment to NAFA. The NSSF, recognised by the Federal Ministries of Education and Sports, recently formalised a five-year partnership with NAFA after three years of informal collaboration.

Ibong praised NAFA for introducing a fresh avenue to keep students positively engaged, noting that well-structured sports programmes remain critical to reducing youth involvement in social vices.

“This game may be new in Nigeria, but through NAFA’s training, our teachers quickly adapted and became coaches,” he said.

“The quality of play today looks like a sport that has been here for a decade.”

Oluwatobi Abe, coordinator of the NSSFFL, said the league continues to deepen its technical, administrative and development structures across participating states. He revealed increased marketing engagement this year, as well as improved officiating standards driven by volunteer training and new game-master programmes.

Abe also announced that cash prizes of N1m, N750k and N350k will be awarded to the three top-performing teams and student-athletes, reinforcing the league’s commitment to merging sports with academic excellence.

NAFA acknowledged the support of local and international partners, particularly Browns Nigeria, the local affiliate of the Cleveland Browns, which continues to invest in youth development initiatives across the ecosystem.

As the AKETI Bowl III finals tip off in Abuja, NAFA says its long-term vision is to entrench flag football as one of Nigeria’s safest, most structured and scalable school sports.