Basketball in Africa

THE U-18 youth basketball training camp involving students from various secondary schools in Mwanza came to an end in the city on Thursday.

Mwanza-based Planet Social Development (PSD) had organized the camp in co-operation with a Dar es Salaam firm, Mambo Basketball, with a view to promote the sport in the region.
PSD official, Kizito Bahati, said the event, which had been taking place at the CCM-Kirumba Stadium, involved a total of 81 youngsters, in which the boys totalled 68 and the rest were girls.
Bahati said the camp targeted to, among others, spot basketball talents and seek ways to develop them in an effort to effectively promote the sport as per the call made by the sport's governing body in the country, Tanzania Basketball Federation (TBF).
   "The event also focused on providing training through videos, which is part of the programme that will be conducted next year in co-operation with a basketball coach from Canada's Memorial Newfound University basketball programme," he said.
The camp also aimed at providing opportunity for basketball coaches in Mwanza to exchange ideas and experiences among each other so that they could play a crucial part in maintaining successful organization of the programme in future.
Bahati said the event succeeded another successful training camp held in Dar es Salaam in July, this year, in which youngster, Alphaeus Kisusi, won a partial scholarship at the Memorial Newfound University after putting impressive displays in the camp.
   "The camp further geared towards fostering better co-operation between Mambo Basketball and PSD firms in a bid to realize the targets set forth by the two firms, whose officials attended a training programme in the United States in 2009 under sponsorship from the Embassy of the United States in Tanzania," he said.