RAISING ‘STAR’ KIDS: Meet Award-Winning Scrabble Player, Angela Osaigbovo

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8-year-old ANGELA OSAIGBOVO is a multiple award-winning scrabble player, athlete, budding writer and a straight A’s student. Her several striking achievements have earned her a monthly grant from the Lagos State government facilitated by the Lagos State Director of Sports as well as the Chairman and Secretary of the Lagos State Scrabble Association.

Reliving how it all started, Angela’s mum, Toyin Osaigbovo, tells us, “When Angela was born, I noticed she got to her milestones early. I started building a library for her when she was a baby. She started reading and spelling early. At 2 years old, she spelt ‘generator’ and started reading at the age of 4. At 5-years-old when she was in Year 1, she was introduced to scrabble. The scrabble coach then told me that he saw potential in her and that she understood the game more than a lot of her classmates.”

Angela was subsequently chosen as one of the children to represent her school at the Protégé Schools League at the age of 6, where she competed with other pupils from about 19 schools. She won the Beginners Category and that marked the beginning of several successes to come.

Today, among others, she has the following to her credit:

Silver medal for Year 2 Sprint for Donga House (Primary Phase) Interhouse Sports (2012)
Gold Medal at the Grange – Protégé Scrabble League (Beginners Category) 2013
Gold Medalist at the Grange – Protégé Scrabble League (Intermediate category) 2014
Meg Nwobia Award for Scrabble Excellence at the Protégé Schools League 2014
5^th Place, 12 years and under at the Godswill Akpabio Scrabble to School Tournament, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, 2014
Most Promising Female player, 12 years and under at the Godswill Akpabio Scrabble to School Tournament, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, 2014
2nd Place at the Winifred Awosika Foundation Scrabble Tournament, 2014
2^nd Place Ladies Singles at the Ibile Games 2014
3^rd Place Ladies Doubles at the Ibile Games 2014
1^st Place (Primary Category) at the Lagos State tryouts for the National School Sports
Conduct Award of Year, 2013/2014 Session
Top Academic Achiever for 3 consecutive terms in Year 3 2013/2014 Session
Best in Literacy, Year 3 Summer Term 2013/2014 Session
1^st place World Environment Day Essay Writing Competition organized by the Grange School

Angela, whose favourite subject is Numeracy, says Scrabble helps her with literacy and mental math skills. She also likes playing chess, tennis, soccer, dancing and drawing.

Asked how she feels about her several achievements, she says: “It makes me proud and happy.”

On toughest games she’s participated in so far, Angela says: “Actually, there were three tough ones. The Scrabble to School Competition at Uyo because they cheated with over-aged players; The World Youth Scrabble Championship at Dubai, because it was my first time of using a timer and it affected my game; and the Godswill Akpabio International Classics at Uyo, because I played only adults and the only other young people I played against were in SS2.”

Though playing scrabble both locally and international has seen her travelling to many exciting places, she says her favourite so far is Dubai. “I went shopping and visited the desert and the sand dunes. I screamed and cried during the ride. I had fun,” she adds.

On what inspires her to strive to be the best always, she says, “My mum.”

Angela aspires to be a famous scrabble player and an awesome writer in the future. She adds: “I’m working hard on improving my skills and believe with God’s help, I have what it takes to get to the top. I am studying scrabble words and planning on writing a book.”

Excerpts from our interview with Angela’s mum, Toyin Osaigbovo

Tell us about Angela’s major challenges so far

“She has had to sacrifice her break time in school and television time at home to make up for time spent out of school. I have also had to sacrifice my time and sometimes my job suffers but it’s been worth it. A personal challenge has been finance, as I have had to bear the cost of the trips for her and myself but recently, the Lagos State Government and the Chairman of Lagos State Scrabble Association have sponsored her to some of the tournaments. The success and the accolades have been enough reward for all the hard work.”

How do you strike the needed balance between her passion and maintaining dedication to academic excellence?

“Basically, Angela and I have to be involved. Both of us make sacrifices and I have had to learn time management. She had to understand that academics is her priority and be willing to do extra work, before and after she goes for competitions. This is easy because she has a passion for scrabble and is not being forced into it. She is also a dedicated child.

We actually look at the competitions, the dates and compare with the school calendar and then choose the ones we can undertake without affecting her studies. We also look at the extra time we can put into her academics and work out ways to get her on the same level or even above her pairs. The teachers also help by using her play time to teach her when she has missed classes because of a competition. The school has been supportive in this regard.”

How does playing scrabble rub off on Angela’s overall personality and performance at school?

“Sports build confidence and scrabble being a mind sport also help develop the mind. She is now famous in school for scrabble excellence and her classmates look up to her, especially after several newspaper and television reports done on her. She has also learnt the value of hard work and that you can achieve whatever you put your mind to. She has become a role model to some and has even had to counsel and coach some young scrabble players. Some of these players at some point wanted to give up the game but she has been a source of encouragement to them.”

Tips for parents on discovering their child’s potential, both in academics and extra-curricular activities, and helping them be the best they can

“I think parents need to pay attention to what their children take interest in. Allow them try different things and see the one that has sustained interest. Encourage this activity to competition level. Seek the ways your child can get to a higher level. Get a competent coach to assist the child. On academics, tutor and evaluate the child regularly, and remember not to let their academics take the fall for excelling in extra-curricular activities by constantly striking the needed balance.”

Hope you picked a few tips. See more amazing stories in subsequent weeks…