An Olympic Solidarity administrator, Ebere Amaraizu, has advocated for more women inclusion in sports to help ensure their enormous potentials are tapped for effective societal change, growth and development.

Amaraizu, the chairman of Enugu State Taekwondo Association, made the call on Saturday while speaking with journalists in Enugu as he joins in celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD).

He said the Nigerian society was ripe for full compliance of all premier league and national league clubsides to maintain and run formidable women football teams to give room for wider inclusion and opportunities for them in sports.

“This is imperative, especially in football. I know that there are great numbers of women in some sports but their numbers appear insignificant compared to our population.

“We should give wider attention to grassroots sports talent hunt and discovery anchored on creation of awareness and promotion of women participation in sports.

“This will help to facilitate the process of the use of their enormous potentials for the required societal change in our sports ecosystem,” he said.

Amaraizu said he was yet to see Enyimba Queens FC; Rangers International Amazon among others.

“Other clubs should be reminded to emulate and build female football clubs like Nasarawa Amazons, Bayelsa Queens, Heartland and Rivers Angels, Confluence Queens, among others.

“The grassroots sports framework should also include more women in boxing, chess, athletics, taekwondo, mixed martial arts, triathlon, arm wrestling, judo, basketball, volleyball, handball and cycling, among others.

“Potentials in women, especially in sports, are not harnessed and explored because not much attention is paid to women inclusion in sports to promote excellence which is one of the core olympic values,” he said. 

(NAN)