By ADERONKE OJO

The Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) Women’s Commission says it is intensifying grassroots awareness campaigns to encourage parents to support girls participation in sports and address challenges limiting women’s involvement in sporting activities.

The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) reports that the two-day seminar organised by the NOC women’s commission in collaboration with Olympic Solidarity, which commenced on Monday and ended on Tuesday, attracted 40 sports journalists in Abuja.

Prof. Florence Adeyanju, Chairperson of the NOC women’s commission, said journalists were key stakeholders in promoting women and girls in sports, given their influence on public perception.

“We realised that journalists are key stakeholders in publicising our women and girls in sports. What they push out to the public is very, very important.

“ The commission had, over the past three years, organised workshops and seminars across different zones of the country to educate communities on the benefits of sports for women and girls,” she said.

According to her, the initiative also seeks to address parental concerns that often discourage girls from participating in sporting activities.

“We have, for the past three years, been going to different zones of the nation.

“ We have had workshops and seminars at the grassroots level because those at the grassroots need to understand the benefits of sports for women themselves and for the nation,”she said.

She expressed confidence that continued awareness campaigns would encourage more parents to support their daughters involvement in sports.

“ When you make the awareness known to them, they are very receptive, and so we are not stopping. We will continue,” she said.

Omofoma Ebare, one of the facilitators at the seminar, urged sports journalists to uphold professional ethics, fairness and gender balance in their reporting.

Ebare said journalists should avoid gender stereotypes and focus on athletes performances and achievements rather than their physical appearance or personal circumstances.

“ Also stressed the importance of accuracy, respect for athletes privacy and increased media visibility for women’s sports,” he said.

Habu Gumel, President of the NOC commended the women’s commission for the initiative, describing it as a valuable contribution to the development of women’s sports and sports journalism in Nigeria.

Gumel encouraged the commission to sustain and expand the programme to reach more journalists and promote greater participation of women and girls in sports.

He acknowledged the support and collaboration of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) in the successful organisation of the seminar and formally declared the event closed..(NAN)