Sports
NBA Africa, Others Take Basketball Campaign To Schools
As part of activities marking the launch of the 2022 Power Forward basketball season, the National Basketball Association (NBA Africa), Exxon Mobil Foundation and Pan Africa on Wednesday, started touring schools in the Federal Capital territory.
The outing, which began at the Government Secondary School, Kubwa, brought together students, particularly those involved in basketball, from schools within FCT, including Government Day Secondary School, Dutse, Total Child Model School, Dutse, as well as students from the host school.
The elated students were taken through a life skills seminar handled by former NBA player, Olumide Oyedeji, after which they participated in a tree planting exercise.
The Power Forward line of activities, the organisers said, was aimed at building the capacity of the youth as part of their contributions towards sports development and a sustainable greener environment.
The Vice President, NBA Africa and Country Head, NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, explained that the yearly programme, which is in its ninth series, is tailored to enhance the capacity of students in basketball technicalities and the curriculum for the junior NBA programme relevant for a successful career in the sport.
The programme is also aimed at ensuring that basketball is widely accepted by children in the FCT so that they can benefit from all the skills embedded in the game.
Aside from training and mentorship seminars, the students also participated in tree planting around the school environment.
The NBA boss added that the association is an environmentally conscious one that sees tree planting as very relevant to the overall development of humanity.
She said: “NBA, being part of tree planting, is because we know how important it is to sustain the environment. So, that is part of what we do. When you talk about Power Forward programme, it comprises health, environment, as well as capacity building in life skills.”
For the Country Director, PanAfricare Nigeria, Dr. Patrick Adah, the programme was part of the implementation of Power Forward projects, which, according to him, is targeted at using basketball as a platform to teach youths life skills and other related lessons.
“This is the season we celebrate World Environment Day. So, we engaged in a tree planting exercise. We all know the importance of trees to the environment and the earth.
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor