Kada Stars Begin NHSL Title Defence with Dominant Victory as NHF Pushes Hockey Revival
Oru Leonard
Defending champions Kada Stars opened their 2026 Nigeria Hockey Super League (NHSL) campaign in emphatic fashion on Friday, defeating Southwest 4-0 at the National Hockey Pitch, Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, as the Nigeria Hockey Federation (NHF) unveiled fresh efforts to revive the sport through coaching, grassroots development and international partnerships.
Victor Kish gave Kada Stars an early lead in the seventh minute from a penalty corner before Eikana Ibrahim doubled the advantage seven minutes later with a field goal to hand the champions a comfortable 2-0 halftime lead.
Daniel Janar converted another penalty corner in the 50th minute before Ibrahim completed his brace four minutes later to seal a convincing victory. Southwest’s difficult outing was compounded by yellow cards shown to Omolade Olasukanmi and captain Umar Adamu.
Speaking after the match, Kada Stars captain Kelvin Linus attributed the impressive performance to months of intensive preparation, insisting the team remains focused on securing another podium finish.
Other opening-day fixtures also produced exciting results, with Police Machine hammering IGP Flickers 9-1, Stallions defeating Adamawa State 2-0, while Niger Flickers and Plateau Tigers settled for a thrilling 2-2 draw.
In the women’s category, Kada Queens thrashed Southwest 6-0, Plateau Queens defeated IGP Babes 5-0, while Delta Queens recorded a 5-0 victory over Yobe Desert Queens.
Representing NHF President Simon Obadiah Nkom, Vice President Tunde Popoola said the quality of play reflected the federation’s determination to restore Nigerian hockey to its former heights through improved coaching, better organisation, grassroots programmes and support from the National Sports Commission and the Nigeria Olympic Committee.
Popoola identified inadequate infrastructure as the sport’s biggest challenge, noting that Nigeria currently has only three standard synthetic hockey pitches. He urged governments at all levels to invest in modern facilities to accelerate grassroots development and support the eventual establishment of a sustainable home-and-away league.
The federation’s technical development programme has received a major boost with the arrival of former Germany women’s national team head coach Michael Behrmann under a German government-supported sports initiative.
Behrmann said his mission is to develop Nigerian coaches and strengthen the country’s technical capacity, expressing satisfaction with the standard of play on the opening day and confidence that the coaching programme would leave a lasting impact.
NHF board member and former international Farouk Johanna reaffirmed the federation’s commitment to youth development, stressing that regular competitions and quality coaching remain essential for producing future national team players.
Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, Professor Edika Abo, praised the competitive standard of the tournament and commended the youthful Southwest team despite its defeat. He also lauded Adamawa State for remaining competitive despite lacking a standard hockey facility and disclosed that between 40 and 50 Nigerian coaches would benefit from the coaching programme facilitated by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
Abo further revealed that the President of the African Hockey Federation, Seif Ahmed, is expected to attend the closing stages of the championship as part of efforts to strengthen international collaboration and attract greater support for hockey development.
The 2026 Nigeria Hockey Super League features nine men’s teams and seven women’s teams, with matches continuing at the National Hockey Pitch, Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, until July 5.
