₦1M Boost for Girls’ Football as HerGame Tournament Gains Momentum

Hon. Kabiru Amadu — Chairman of the House Committee on Sports has reinforced the growing drive for grassroots women’s football in Nigeria with a ₦1 million donation to the 2025 HerGame Girls Football Championship in Abuja.

The 2025 edition of the tournament organised by the HerGame Foundation expanded significantly this year, evolving from a single-city event into a regional competition featuring 16 teams from across the North Central region.

Represented by his media aide, Niyi Busari, Hon. Amadu lauded the organisers and reaffirmed the legislature’s readiness to provide sustained institutional backing for women’s sports at the grassroots level. “This ₦1 million donation is to support and encourage the founder and sole sponsor of this tournament,” he said. “We are working on securing additional financial backing from the National Assembly within a week. We also urge the organisers to scale up and transform this into a national event.”

The founder of the HerGame Foundation, Dr. Pat Ajuma Ayegba, expressed deep gratitude for the support  calling it a timely boost that could help turn next year’s edition into a nationwide platform. “I am overwhelmed by the financial, moral, and physical support from the National Assembly,” she said. “My profound gratitude goes to Hon. Kabiru Amadu for attending the final, donating ₦1 million, and promising to help us deliver a more elaborate national women’s grassroots football event next year.”

On the pitch, the 2025 tournament’s final showcased rising talent and competitive promise. Horvel Angels clinched the title with a 2–0 victory over defending champions Fosla Academy — an outcome that underscores the growing intensity and technical depth of the competition.

This combination of expanded scope, legislative backing and improved competition signals a promising new chapter for grassroots women’s football in Nigeria.

Editorial

We must acknowledge first the obvious ₦1 million  in the vast economy of institutional sport funding  may not seem earth-shattering. Yet, its symbolic weight is profound. In a country where women’s football has for too long subsisted on goodwill and sporadic patronage, the gesture by Hon. Kabiru Amadu is a statement that the apparatus of state is beginning, albeit cautiously, to recognise what grassroots girls’ football can mean for Nigeria’s future.

What this tournament represents  and what this funding could catalyse is much more than 16 teams chasing a trophy for a week. It is a conduit for latent talent a safety net for girls whose only chance to play competitively lies far outside the glamour of top-flight leagues. The expansion from an Abuja-only event to a broader North Central competition gives weight to the idea that football need not be confined to elite academies or major urban centres. It can  indeed must be woven into the fabric of local communities, of smaller towns, of places where raw talent still goes unnoticed.

Dr. Pat Ajuma Ayegba’s vision for the HerGame Girls Championship to become a national platform is not idealistic fluff it’s necessary. Too many promising girls have slipped through Nigeria’s footballing net simply because opportunity was absent. HerGame’s fully supported model registration, kits, logistics removes financial and logistical barriers that often exclude girls from remote or underprivileged backgrounds. This is the kind of structural thinking Nigerian women’s football has needed for decades.

But a one-off cheque, and a well-organised tournament, are only the beginning. What will matter next is consistency, expansion, and actual pathways into higher levels nurturing these talents into national-league clubs, giving them coaching, education, mentorship, and visibility. Because if HerGame remains a weekend festival of enthusiasm, its long-term impact will be limited. But if it becomes as its founders hope  a nationwide feeder system for clubs and even the national women’s team, its significance becomes historic.

At a time when global women’s football is surging, Nigeria cannot afford to treat it as an afterthought. Hon. Amadu’s donation is commendable. Yet what we must now demand  as supporters of equity, potential and real opportunity is that it becomes habit, not exception.

Did You Know?

1. The HerGame Girls Tournament began only two years ago its inaugural edition was limited to the Federal Capital Territory before expanding in 2025 to cover the North Central zone.
2. In the inaugural edition of HerGame, the top performer went on to feature for Nigeria at a global youth tournament one former participant played at the 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
3. The 2025 final of HerGame was held at the Area 3 Sports Complex in Abuja  a stadium more commonly used for grassroots and community sports than top-flight matches.
4. The champion club of this year’s tournament, Horvel Angels, won ₦250,000 as the top prize  evidence that HerGame aims to offer tangible rewards, not just exposure.
5. Among the key supporters present at the 2025 HerGame final was a former presidential-era NFF boss who founded Fosla Academy her participation underscores how institutions and former insiders are converging around grassroots women’s football.