Overwhelming is not a perfectly descriptive word to paint how freshmen feel in the first week of resumption. There is loads of information to process in little time, with guilt crashing down on your mind if you decide to handle things one at a time no matter how long it takes. Extracurriculars and call for applications are met with thoughts of interest and an eventual scale of preference, for the most part. An integral extracurricular activity is sports; of which there is so much to get involved in as you move through your undergraduate years. Staying ahead in school thrives on access to information and thanks to associations and organizations, information comes in different ways. One notable way is journalism and this piece aims to introduce you to sports in the University of Ibadan.
This is neither a generic 101 guide on sports in UI nor a listicle of the sports you can participate in, but an extensive detail of what you might or might not have heard about sports in UI. As a reader who is sports inclined, or rather a reader who would want to be, it is essential that you don’t dabble into its circumference with a lost mind because in UI, time is of the essence and every week spent trying so hard to figure things out on your own will likely culminate in regrets – or a semblance of it. In the University of Ibadan, you will find quite a number of talented individuals who are good with the ball, bats, or even the board games. Some will be training so hard for a competition in view and others will be training just so they don’t lose their touch. It is a vibrant culture that’s fast growing and didn’t just start today. Out of curiosity, you might want to ask, what has it been like in recent previous sessions?
Athletes’ Performances in External Competitions in Previous Sessions
There is no doubt that aside from academics, so many other factors influence people’s choice of institution and while Nigeria’s premier university has been labelled an institution with overly academic individuals, the facts and stats say otherwise. In 2022, UI went for Nigerian University Games (NUGA) hosted by the University of Lagos (UNILAG). For football, the male team were knocked out by the host in the quarter-finals after a lone-goal game and the female team were knocked out by Nnamdi Azikiwe University. It was also a quarter-final crash out for the male volleyball team. Across all sports, the school team won 20 medals in total, notably bagging two golds in female chess, courtesy of Blessing Ojo and Adeola Funmilayo Olusanwo. In that same 2022, UI travelled to Lagos for the Higher Institution Football League (HIFL), but the outing wasn’t so promising as the team didn’t qualify for the tournament because they got knocked out in the preliminaries.
In 2023, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) organised a competition. Trials had initially been held earlier in the year in Benin City – Samuel Ogbemudia stadium to be precise – which our athletes traveled for. Two UI students, Korede Adedigba and Tinuade Adekola, qualified, earning them a trip to China to represent Nigeria, however, they didn’t get a podium finish. In that same 2023, UI participated in the West Africa University Games (WAUG) hosted by Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). The school team finished 13th position out of the 27 universities that participated, bagging three silver and four bronze medals. Some of the medalists were Victoria Ayodeji, Taiwo Perpetual Babajide, Deborah Oluwanifemi Jimoh, and the two representatives at China earlier in the year for FISU.
In 2024, Bilaterals held. The Bilaterals Games program involves a series of sports competitions between the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, and the University of Ghana, Legon, both of which are the premier universities in their respective countries. The most recent one had its first leg held in UI in April 2024, where both universities participated in tennis, crickets, and handball. We won in Tennis but lost to the visitors in Cricket and Handball. The second leg was held in the University of Ghana in June 2024 and the sports played were Judo, Hockey, and Badminton. Similarly, we won in Judo but lost in Hockey and Badminton.
Sometime in July 2024, the school basketball team traveled to Uganda and came fourth at the African qualifiers. In September 2024, University of Ibadan athletes amassed 12 medals – across Chess, Scrabble and Taekwondo – at the All-African University Games organised by the Federation of African University Sports (FASU) jointly hosted by the University of Lagos and Lagos State University (LASU). Notable names are Sunday Adetunji, Simeon Okojie, Funmilola Kelani, Emmanuel Enri, etc. In December 2024, the school basketball team defeated the Beavers Basketball club to win the 6th edition of the Propella 3×3 Male Open Challenge at the Lekan Salami Stadium – popularly known as Adamasingba – in Ibadan. In the most recent outing, ten athletes from UI traveled to Jos for the FISU trials ahead of the World University Games in Germany. UI’s Semiloore Akiniran qualified for the Rhine-Ruhr Games as a javelin thrower which is expected to hold in July 2025 in Germany. Gloria Akinyemi and Obaloluwa Gbenro qualified for swimming and will be traveling alongside Semiloore. These are some of the achievements of our outfits so far in recent years across different sports. It is also an implication that there is a growing community of students getting involved in different sports of their choice.
Sports Activities in an Academic Session
Frankly speaking, the university athletes wouldn’t have done so well in external competitions if they are not enabled within the university walls. In the University of Ibadan, we have Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Handball, Hockey, Swimming, Chess, Judo, Taekwondo, Badminton, Athletics, Tennis. Without being properly introduced to all of these, you would only find football, basketball, and volleyball played in almost every corner you turn, from halls of residence to sports arenas to staff schools. For football, there are so many competitions played in an academic session starting from various friendly games to welcome the freshmen into school to fiercer competitions where monetary rewards are at stake. The UIMSA Press highlighted most of the football tournaments that are played in UI. The basketball community isn’t as large as football’s owing to a number of factors, most notably the location of the court which is along Barth road, after Obafemi Awolowo Hall. Nonetheless, members of the school team and other interested individuals spend their evenings training on the court. In addition, some halls of residence like the Lord Tedder Hall have a basketball court that’s closer to the center of the school compared to the official court.
Somewhere along the Student Union building area, you will find the volleyball court with players almost every evening jumping and hitting the ball over the net into the opposite half court. Their training sessions seem more rigorous when there is a competition in view. Joining them is as easy as showing up on the court one evening, so it is for a number of other sports. The Tennis court is adjacent to the volleyball court and students also come around to play with and against each other. In the SU building, there is a swimming pool available to all students at the cost of 500 Naira. The school swimming team also trains there almost every day of the week as it is a sport where you can’t afford to be inconsistent. The pool is currently undergoing maintenance but should be readily available very soon. While there is no designated handball court in UI, the team uses existing facilities as a makeshift for practices. This is the same for other sports like hockey. Judo, Taekwondo, and Badminton have their spots for practices and training. The athletics team make use of the track lanes in the stadium along Barth Road popularly called Awo stadium for practices. Table Tennis which is an indoor sport can be played at the SU building or various halls of residence. The Chess Team meets at the Youth Friendly Center, along the Faculty of Technology. The Vice Chancellor hosts a UI’SU-organized VC marathon as part of the SU olympics where participants run a certain distance through approved routes usually from the senate building to finish at the student union building.
Critically Acclaimed Fierce Departments, Faculties, and Halls in Sports
There are no competitions and tournaments without winners, runners-up, and losers; and the outcomes of editions after editions have seen some constituencies consistently don gold, silver, and bronze medals. Starting from halls of residence, Alexander Brown Hall (ABH), which is home to the clinical students in MBBS, Dentistry, Physiotherapy, and Medical Laboratory Science in UCH, are a force to reckon with in football, basketball, and volleyball. Nnamdi Azikiwe, which is popularly addressed as Zik, are also fierce in hall-based competitions. The Postgraduate halls also put up a good fight whenever they participate in these competitions. Fair shouts to Tedder hall and Independence hall. For the female halls, Queen Elizabeth II hall presents themselves the most formidable of the trio in recent times.
For departments in football, there are no conversations about the best and greatest without the mention of MBBS, Industrial and Production Engineering (IPE), Political Science (POS), Arts and Social Sciences Education (i.e. ASSE, particularly the female team), and Philosophy. For other sports like hockey, Human Kinetics (KHE) students are relatively savvy. At the faculty level, we have Clinical Sciences, Social Sciences, and Education. In volleyball, the Faculties of Education, Agriculture, and Clinical Sciences have some of the best outfits. If you find yourself in these halls, departments, and faculties, welcome to a world of bragging rights and high pedestals. If you are not, maybe it is time to get involved with your peers and change the narrative.
Formalities and Realities
In UI, officially, we have the old football stadium and the new football stadium. It is the former everyone unofficially calls SUB pitch, and the latter, Awo stadium. If you’re going to address a letter to the sports council on the usage of any of them, you have to write the official alternative as that’s what is recognized formally. But if you’re going to describe where an event is going on, using any of these places as a landmark, the unofficial names are better suited for this purpose. The official names also reflect the recency in establishment and the ability to accommodate a very large number of people. The tracks for athletics are found at the new football stadium; the basketball court is found on the way to the stadium. The tennis and volleyball courts are found adjacent to the old football stadium. The SUB pitch is commonly used because it is closer to the center of the school where 6-7 of the 9 undergraduate halls of residence are. It is also the pitch you can book for tournaments and competitions for free as opposed to Awo stadium where you have to pay a caution fee for maintenance.
It is widely believed and encouraged that you write a letter to the sports council requesting permission to use the SUB pitch but in reality, you can play a match on the pitch as randomly as possible provided the pitch is free. When you write a letter to the sports council and it gets approved, it is possible that another match gets approved for a time very close to yours on the same day. Of course, no one figures out until the teams playing both matches get to the pitch at the approved time. In such cases, both parties reach a compromise, which often means a reduction in pre-meditated game time. The compromise is not often reached peaceably, as arguments and chaos initially fill the air. It is also important to note that your senior colleagues don’t have more rights to the pitch than you do by virtue of being in a senior class. Whenever there needs to be a dialogue, engage with respect and never give room for bullying. For class training sessions in preparation for a competition, it is advisable to get to the pitch as early as possible with your classmates so you can secure better spaces to use before it gets crowded. Oftentimes, training sessions are disrupted by a member of the sports council, most especially when these sessions are held during school hours. A little dialogue between the coordinator of the training – captain or coach – and the member of the sports council resolves the issue.
Regardless of the numerous competitions that are held in both semesters in a session, students have only 11 lecture weeks per semester and it is within this period that competitions can be held. More often than not, there is more than one competition going on at a time at the SUB pitch which makes booking the pitch at the sports council a necessary endeavour. Regarding training, there is barely any free time to train as a class, department, faculty, or hall, before any matchday and so, people find time to train once before the competition begins, and just show up every matchday to play. It is always more chaotic for the clinical students in UCH because they also have to juggle school and transporting themselves to UI for these competitions. Also, in as much as there are a good number of sports played in UI, due to interest of the majority, you would find football pulling the most crowd. Within football, there is a hierarchy in priority for clashing competitions. For instance, if SEALS Cup is currently going on, it is regarded as the most important competition at that time and any other tournament going on would either have to squeeze their match time into the free time available in the day or write to the sports council to make use of Awo stadium.
Fitness and Fitting In
As much as sports is an avenue for recreation and escapism mechanism from the ever-burdensome academic schedules, fitness is another important reason to engage in sports. Breakdown is always imminent when you fail to balance physical and mental rigours. It is the reason some students get gym membership, engage in morning long-distance walks and runs, or play certain sports of interest. Sporting activities help you burn calories, improve organ function, enhance endurance, and keep overall body wellness. Mental health advantages like stress relief and focus are side benefits of actively playing sports.
To play sports, you need to fit in, physically and literally. That’s where sports gears come in. It is advisable to invest in decent gears to make practice and training easier. Opposite the Faculty of Arts behind Tedder Hall, there is a sports shop that sells every basic need of a sportsman or sportswoman ranging from soccer balls, basket balls, volleyballs, tennis balls and rackets, kits and jerseys, soccer boots, skipping ropes, and many more. If you’re more familiar with places outside the University of Ibadan, there are shops in Agbowó and Dugbe that sell sports gears.
Politicking and Passion
Sporting activities are almost always organized by politically elected individuals in different constituencies and ultimately at the Student Union level. Halls of residence have sports ministers, departments and faculties have sports directors/secretaries, and the Student Union has a sports secretary in its executive arm. These sports heads oversee a committee that ensures an effective administrative run in the constituencies they are elected. Politics is an avenue to take charge in sports and see to the smooth run of competitions and tournaments. Students can get involved in politics through membership in the sports committee in their first year and – depending on constitutional criteria – run for sports positions in their halls, departments, faculties, and at the SU level from their sophomore year until final year.
Although not so much focus is fixated on sports ministers as it is on chairpersons, presidents and their deputy/vices, it is not an easy role to fit into. You have to ensure inclusivity in your administration as much as possible, convince people to participate in events despite academic commitments, source funds to organise sports activities, most especially the sports day of the health, hall, department, faculty or SU week. You also have to work hand in hand with sports heads of other constituencies to keep the vibrant culture alive within the student community. While your service adds to your CV or resume, as the case may be, it is important that you show a level of commitment only passion can unlock when vying for such positions.
In conclusion, university sports are very fun and adventurous. Even religious bodies foster sports activities within their community. Redeemed Christian Fellowship (RCF), the fellowship body of Redeemed Chrisitian Church of God (RCCG), organises matches between freshmen and returning students. Likewise in the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, UI Chapter (MSSN-UI), friendly games are played to foster a sense of community. While it is fun and rewarding to get actively involved, one must be wary of losing the balance between academics and athleticism, the probable consequence is very damaging to the primary assignment of every individual in a tertiary institution. Welcome to the University of Ibadan, get ready to conquer in lecture theatres, on pitches and courts.
