BY SUNDAY AKINTOYE
Umude Blessing Ajirioghene hails from Ozoro, Delta State. She was raised in Sapele, Delta State, where she started her athletic career at a very young age. She was born in Oshogbo, Osun State.
She started her athletic career in 2016 as a sprinter, and in 2018, she got the opportunity to play rugby and represent Delta State in the 2018 National Youth Games, which was hosted in Kwara State.
This was an important achievement for her since she took rugby as a professional career, in addition, she was selected for the state rugby team, she also scored the most goals throughout the competition, won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, and guided her state to its first-ever rugby gold medal.
Umude Blessing, who plays a variety of rugby positions, is endowed with several attributes. She can play fullback, outside center, winger, and also a kicker.
Her love of rugby and her desire to rank among the world’s top players had inspired her to put in a lot of work and developed her strength, endurance, and speed as well as her discipline, fearlessness, dedication, hard work, and team spirit.
Following her dominance at the 2018 Youth Games, she began playing rugby for Delta Rugby Club in her own country. She received an invitation to compete for Delta State in the senior squad at the 2020/21 National Sport Festival, one of Nigeria’s largest competitions, which was hosted by Edo State. To make her state proud, she earned three medals: gold, silver, and bronze medals.
She participated in the Abuja Tournament in 2022 on behalf of the Zaria squad, and her two Tries helped them take first place in that competition.
She participated in the 2023 National Female Championship, helping her state won third place and established herself as the third-best female team in Nigeria. Blessing scored more than five Tries and conversions.
Umude Blessing has represented the Nigerian national team in international competitions. These are a few of her accomplishments.
She played for the Nigerian squad in 2023, which defeated Ghana 40–4 to win the inaugural women’s international rugby match in Africa. In the 73rd minute of play, she dashed clear from a distance to score a TRY.
In January 2024, they won again in the rematch against the Ghanaian female team, and she scored the second Try to contribute to the Nigerian female rugby Falcons’ victory.
She was chosen to play in the last 2023 African Games as a member of the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation’s 15-man Lady Stallions Sevens squad. She scored the game’s only TRY against Tunisia, and she also managed two points from a successful conversion. She also scored a TRY against Uganda’s national female team.
Umude Blessing has future in rugby and her passion for the game can take her to the next level in future. The Delta state-born rugby player has what it takes to compete with her colleagues at the world stage provided she sees needed support from the home front and take the game outside the country for foreign professional career.
