Sports
Female Basketball League Excites Fans
Basketball fans leapt with joy after they watched First Deepwater Basketball Club of Lagos defeat city rivals First Bank 65-57 to retain the 7th Zenith Bank Female Basketball Championship title over the weekend.
What is significant about the victory is that First Bank who lost the title it held for five consecutive years to First Deepwater in 2010, again missed regaining it this year, signalling a wind of change in the country’s basketball.
Followers of the game before the final phase of the competition dunked off on October 20 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos, had said that the era of one team dominance had gone.
It will be recalled that First Deepwater had led the first Phase in Kano and the second Phase in Akure.
Even the coach of First Deepwater, Lateef Erinfolami, said that his team had prepared adequately to retain the championship’s title because he knew that basketball has grown to a point where no team is regarded as a minnow.
Erinfolami, overwhelmed with joy, praised his players for their good showing in the competition, especially Nkechi Akachili who won the Highest Scorer and Most Valuable Player. He promised to ensure that the team retained the title in 2012.
First Bank coach Adewunmi Aderemi also told the Tidesports prior to the competition, that he was coming to regain the title and that in doing that, he was not leaving anything to chance since any team could spring surprises.
Although disappointed with not clinching the trophy, which he attributed to his girls not playing to instruction, Aderemi admitted that the competition was well organised and that officiating was unbiased.
According to him, it showed that the game is now fast growing and becoming more competitive, giving every team the opportunity to have a shot at the title.
The President, Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Tijani Umar said that the standard of the competition had improved over the years and expressed delight with the quality of the players whom, he noted, would be selected to join the national team.
He thanked the sponsors for their continued support which led to the winners getting N1 million as against the previous N750,000; the second position which used to get N500,000 got N750,000 and the third occupied by Sunshine Angels of Akure were given N500,000— up from N350,000. “I hope the cordial relationship between the NBBF and the sponsors continues to blossom for the good of the game,” Umar said. Some of the fans told Tidesport that they were surprised at the quality of the game by the participating teams, saying it was of international standard.
They said that if a young club like First Deepwater that was appearing for the third time could win the title back to back, it meant the game was progressing.
Tidesports reports that other clubs that competed in the league were Nigeria Customs of Lagos, Dolphins of Lagos, Delta Force of Asaba, Sunshine Angels of Akure, FCT Angels, AHIP Queens of Kano, Plateau Rocks and Nigeria Immigration of Kano.
Other teams officials who spoke to Tidesports commended the unbiased officiating of the tournament and called on the NBBF to regularly train and re-train the officials to update them with the latest rules and regulations of the sport.Tidesports reports that there was no incidence of violence recorded during the competition as adequate security was provided. The champions, First Deepwater and runners-up First Bank, will represent Nigeria in the Africa Club Championship at a yet to be determined venue and date.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.