Imo Striker Queens are gearing up for their second appearance in the Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) Championship, following their debut season last year in Ikenne.

Head coach Nelly Orisakwe is optimistic that the lessons learned from their previous campaign will help the team secure promotion to the top-flight league this season.

Reflecting on their first experience, Orisakwe noted, “Our focus is coming out with the ticket because last year was our first time in the Championship in Ikenne. It was a very good one because it exposed us to lots of things we didn’t know.

“That tournament was the first time almost all my girls would have their first outing in a tournament like that. It was an eye-opener for them and for me as well. Our focus is to come back with the promotion tickets, which we have been working on our lapses in the last Championship, and we hope to get it right this time around.”

However, the team will be missing one of their key players, Chidi Harmony, who is currently with the Nigeria U-17 Women’s national team in preparation for the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

Orisakwe acknowledged the impact of Harmony’s absence but remains confident in her other players.

“We will miss her as one of our key players who will not be participating in the Championship,” Orisakwe said.

“Definitely, her absence will be missed, but there is nothing one can do. We have to use the other players because we also have good strikers apart from Harmony.

“I believe by the special grace of God those will make the team proud because we are working on them seriously so that they can play without noticing the absence of Harmony.”

Imo Striker Queens have demonstrated their potential by winning several grassroots competitions, including the Sheroes Cup and the 2023 Ifeanyi Chiejine Memorial Cup. They have also recently launched a feeder team to nurture young talents from primary schools.

Orisakwe emphasized their commitment to developing homegrown talent, stating, “We don’t believe in ready-made players because we can groom the young ones to make them become what we want them to be. We still believe in our players. They are the ones we are using.

“We worked more on them. We don’t go for ready-made players. We believe in the products that we have and I know they will never fail. We will keep breeding them because we now have the feeders team with those in Primary Schools. From there the ones that performed well will be promoted to the main team.”

The team faces challenges in preparation due to a lack of competitive fixtures in the East and Orisakwe recounted the scarcity of women’s teams in the region compared to the South West, where there are more opportunities for competitive play.

“In the East here, we don’t have many teams to play, unlike in the South West where there are a lot of women’s teams. The only women’s teams we have within us here are a few amateur teams: the Premiership side, which is Heartland Queens, and Abia Angels, which are on break. We don’t have many games to play,” she said. “There is a tournament organized by the South East. We involved the girls to maintain their fitness. That is the only tournament we are involved in.”

Imo Striker Queens will be aiming to secure one of the promotion tickets this season, following the promotion of Remo Stars Ladies and Sunshine Queens from Group B last season. Achieving promotion would increase the number of private clubs in the NWFL Premiership.