BY ANDREW EKEJIUBA
Nigeria’s first National Women’s Team Captain Princess Alban Ugonwaezeh-Agugo has been appointed into Rugby Africa Women’s Player Welfare and Participation Sub Committee.
Chairman of the Sub Committee, Ms. Anna Michelle Prudence Preira commended Princess and ten others for their dedication and involvement in the development of women’s Rugby and the welfare of the players.
NRFF President, Kelechukwu Mbagwu says the Federation has been working closely with Rugby Africa to ensure inclusiveness of Women and schools in Rugby.
”Our promise to make the game more inclusive through a variety of competitions by strategic revamping of existing competitions and coming up with new ones for girls and ladies is one Nigeria look forward to as an aspiring Rugby nation and results are beginning to show with the appointments of NRFF Vice President Mrs Grace Iyorhe into Rugby Africa’s Advisory Committee and now Princess Ugowaezeh-Agugo into players Welfare Sub Committee. We will keep working to grow the game across the country,” he said.
Ugonwaezeh-Agugo, a 34yr-old mother of two started her sporting career in Tennis. In the year 2007, she was sponsored to a training tour at the HPC Sports Academy in Pretoria South Africa. She returned to play in the Delta State Sports Festival and emerged champion in the female singles category. She represented her school, Nwafor Orizu College of Education and won back to back Double Gold and Silver medals in the 2009 Nigeria College of Education Games (NICEGA) held in Kano State and Omork Rivers State in 2012. Following these successes, she was honoured twice by the Students’ Union Government.
She also won the Anambra State Sports Festival Tennis competition female singles and mixed doubles in 2011.
As a Rugby player, she is the first Delta State Women’s Rugby captain leading her team to winning Gold and Silver medals at the National Sports Festival held in Kaduna State in 2009. She then led the national women’s team to the 2009 African Women Rugby 7s (North) Tournament held in Accra, Ghana where Nigeria narrowly lost the Cup final match against an experienced Tunisian side to finish in second place.
Ugonwaezeh-Agugo is an Educationist. She obtained her NCE from the above mentioned school, B.ed from the University of Nigeria Nsukka and M.Sc from Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka.
She is the proprietress of Prince Et Princess Schools and has awarded scholarships to the less privileged particularly orphans. Her contributions in education was rewarded recently as she bags an award as Anambra State Pillar of Education by the Catholic Teachers Association Onitsha Archdiocese by His Lordship Valerian Mmaduka Okeke, the Archbishop of Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province.
