Osun Babes is aiming for an immediate return to the top tier of Nigerian women’s football, the NWFL Premiership, after dropping to the second-tier NWFL Championship.
Their relegation came after a bottom-placed finish in the 2022/2023 season, marking their first drop from the top flight in recent years.
The team is led by Wole Animashaun, who has been tasked with guiding them back to the Premiership. Under his leadership, Osun Babes reached the quarter-finals of the 2024 President Federation Cup, where they faced a heavy defeat to Rivers Angels.
Despite this, Animashaun is focused on achieving promotion through the NWFL Championship, stressing that his target is to secure at least one of the promotion spots available amidst numerous friendlies.
“With God and everything we are preparing. In preparation for the NWFL Championship, we have played lots of friendly matches that we concluded last week as the competition gets close,” he told www.thenwfl.com.
“Our target is to pick up the promotion tickets even if it is one team that will be promoted to the NWFL Premiership, then we pray for God to make us the one.”
Discussing his experience, Animashaun mentioned that coaching women’s teams differs from coaching men’s teams mainly in terms of communication and care, pointing out that while the game itself is the same, the approach and training might vary slightly.
“There is not much difference coaching a women’s and men’s teams but it is in-built,” Animashaun said. “God has made me able to coach both sides. The only difference is that you have to be more caring on the part of the women.”
He continued, “In terms of the technicalities, the intensity and volume of the game must go hand in hand (almost the same thing). The game duration is the same but the training differs. The mode of communication with women players is also different from that of men’s football.”
“The difference is not so much enormous. I don’t see so much difference because it is the same game we teach the male we also pass through to her female players,” Animashaun concluded.
Osun Babes, buoyed by their recent performances and friendly matches, is considered a strong contender for promotion as they approach the NWFL Championship.