By Bilesanmi Abayomi
Nigeria’s Green Hawks may have lost their international netball debut 61–40 to Kenya in Nairobi, but their arrival on the African stage represents a much bigger story of diaspora initiative, persistence, collaboration and institutional support.
Just months ago, Nigeria had never fielded a national netball team.
Today, the Green Hawks are competing against established African netball nations, following a remarkable journey that began with efforts in the United Kingdom to connect talented Nigerian players in the diaspora with an opportunity to represent their country.
The story began in the UK, where broadcaster Trish Adudu and coach Alison Akinrinlola had been working around an initiative to identify Nigerian sporting talent and explore pathways through which eligible players in Britain could represent Nigeria.
Previous attempts had not produced the desired outcome.
It was against this background that Adudu approached Mentoring Cmdt Ambassador Alistair, with whom she had previously worked, to explore whether a practical pathway could be established.
Alistair took the initiative to Nigeria’s sports leadership, approaching the Director-General of the National Sports Commission, Hon. Bukola Olopade, and subsequently travelling to Nigeria to pursue the proposal and meet relevant officials.
That engagement became an important turning point.
From an idea to a national programme
In May 2026, the Nigeria Netball Federation was formally inaugurated, with Dr Esther Aluko emerging as its pioneer President.
The National Sports Commission also began placing greater emphasis on the role of Nigerians in the diaspora in the country’s sporting development, creating a pathway for talented athletes abroad to be identified and considered for national representation.
The process gathered pace through the Nigeria Diaspora Talents Development Committee, led by Dr Tunde Adelakun.
Within weeks, trials, player identification and development activities were organised to identify Nigerians in the diaspora with the ability to compete internationally.
Coach Alison Akinrinlola became central to the technical process.
A former England international netball player, Akinrinlola also heads a netball franchise in the UK that provides a pathway to the English Netball Super League. Working alongside experienced figures including former Jamaica coach Connie Francis, Dr Yinka Idowu and Adudu, she helped identify and bring together talented Nigerian players across the UK.
By June, Nigeria had assembled what would become the Green Hawks.
Only three months later, the newly formed team was in Nairobi competing on the international stage.
More than a debut
The speed of the development has drawn attention because of how recently the programme began.
According to Blueprint, Nigeria had never previously fielded a national netball team, while the national federation itself was established earlier in 2026 and the team assembled in June.
That makes the Green Hawks’ debut more than a sporting fixture.
The players arrived in Nairobi carrying the expectations of a country discovering a sport at the national level, but also the work of people who had spent months creating a pathway where none previously existed.
Alistair’s intervention was one part of that process. His engagement helped connect the UK-based initiative with the National Sports Commission at a critical stage, moving the conversation towards an officially recognised national programme.
Dr Aluko subsequently assumed leadership of the new federation, while Adelakun and the Diaspora Talents Development Committee helped drive the identification and trial process.
Akinrinlola and her technical team then worked to turn a collection of talented players into a functioning national side.
The National Sports Commission provided the institutional platform through which the project could take root, with Olopade and the Commission’s leadership backing the development of the team.
The Commission has also credited its broader diaspora-sports strategy to the leadership of Mallam Shehu Dikko, Chairman of the National Sports Commission.
‘I really wanted to do it’
Olopade said the project was driven partly by a desire to create another sporting pathway for Nigerian girls.
“It was something I really wanted to do. To give our girls another option and another pathway to progress and success in sport,” he said.
He noted that netball was already established across several African countries and said Nigeria had the talent and interest to build its own presence in the sport.
“I received assurances and that was how we started,” Olopade added.
For Akinrinlola, the opportunity represents more than simply putting together a team for an international competition.
“I see many girls every week and every now and again, a Nigerian name pops up and I’m thinking, ‘this is a good talent’,” she said.
“To now be presented with a chance to give opportunity to these talented girls to express themselves on the international scene is such a privilege, something we are all excited about.”
Akinrinlola said the longer-term ambition was to establish a foundation for Nigerian netball and encourage more girls in the country to take up the sport.
A 61–40 beginning
The Green Hawks’ first major test came against Kenya in Nairobi.
Nigeria eventually lost 61–40, but the scoreline does not capture the significance of the occasion. The Green Hawks also won one quarter 12–10, offering an early indication of the competitiveness within a team that had only recently been assembled.
For a side making its international debut against a more established netball nation, the match represented the beginning rather than the conclusion of the project.
The bigger achievement was that Nigeria had moved from discussing the possibility of a national netball programme to actually fielding one.
That journey moved from conversations in the UK, through diaspora talent identification and engagement with Nigerian sports authorities, to the establishment of a national federation, player trials, training and an international debut.
The journey continues
The significance of the Green Hawks may ultimately be measured beyond their results in Nairobi.
Their emergence creates a potential pathway for Nigerian girls, both at home and in the diaspora, to see netball as a sport through which they can develop competitive careers and represent Nigeria internationally.
It also demonstrates how diaspora networks can connect talent and opportunity when supported by local institutions.
When young Nigerian girls eventually pick up a netball and dream of wearing the green and white, the story of the first Green Hawks will remind them that the national team did not emerge overnight.
It began with people in Nigeria and the diaspora identifying an opportunity, making connections, building a structure and refusing to let the idea disappear.
The Green Hawks have arrived.
The journey has only just begun.
