Ukandu Champions Girls’ Football in Nigeria with Breakout Tournament Success

Chinasa Ukandu, head coach of CATS Ladies FC of Lagos State, has marked a significant advance in women’s football development by leading her team to win the inaugural “Girls Play Sports Football Tournament”.

Under Ukandu’s guidance, CATS Ladies defeated Plateau United Queens 2-1 in the final at Abuja’s FIFA Goal Project, claiming the trophy and prize money of ₦2 million for the champions, while the runners-up received ₦1 million.

Ukandu attributes the win to the team’s disciplined approach, cohesive teamwork, and commitment in training. She highlighted the importance of providing young girls with meaningful opportunities to shine and develop through structured competition.

Editorial

In an environment where women’s football often wrestles with under-investment, minimal structures and fleeting attention, Chinasa Ukandu emerges not just as a coach but as a catalyst. Her leadership of CATS Ladies in securing the Girls Play Sports Football Tournament showcases a vision anchored in development, not just results.

Ukandu’s quote “This victory means a lot to us. It’s the result of hard work, discipline and teamwork.”  speaks to a philosophy grounded in build-up rather than arrival.Too often in our game we celebrate the goal Ukandu and her team exemplify the work behind the goal. The fact that her CATS Ladies side recorded a 12-match run without conceding in the Lagos State Women’s Super League underpins that approach.

She’s more than a coach. She is a developer of talent, a nurturer of ambition and a provider of opportunity. Her achievement with CATS Ladies makes clear that the future of Nigerian women’s football doesn’t lie solely in national teams or overseas moves but in grassroots platforms, local leagues and competitions that empower young girls to dream and deliver.

What Ukandu and CATS Ladies have achieved is both rare and instructive. Rare because such structural discipline and success remain exceptions rather than rules in many parts of Nigeria’s women’s football landscape instructive because it shows what is possible when vision meets commitment. The prize money is nice, the trophy precious but the deeper win lies in the message: that girls’ football deserves space, support and celebration.

In the broader tapestry of the sport, this moment may not headline global transfer fees or blockbuster signings but it might prove more consequential. Because rediscovering the foundation is where long-term success is built. Ukandu, by turning a team into a movement, reminds us that the next generation of Super Falcons might be forged right here with discipline, opportunity, and belief.

Did You Know?

1. Chinasa Ukandu was a winner of the 2019 WorldRemit-Arsenal “Future Stars” coaching programme, which granted her training in London alongside coaches from Arsenal Football Development.
2. Before leading CATS Ladies, Ukandu served as facilitator in the Premier Skills Coach Educators Programme (an initiative by the British Council and the English Premier League) to support youth football development in Nigeria.
3. Under Ukandu’s leadership, CATS Ladies recorded a 12-match run without conceding in the Lagos State Women’s Super League (Atlantic Conference + Super-4 finals).
4. The Girls Play Sports Football Tournament that CATS Ladies won was held at the FIFA Goal Project pitch in Abuja and offered young female footballers from across Nigeria a national platform.
5. Ukandu’s CATS Ladies operate through a club owned in Surulere by Alhaji Agboola Dabiri, reflecting how committed local leadership can change the trajectory of women’s club football in Nigeria.