NBBF stakeholders’ forum should find ways to consolidate 2015 success

As basketball devotees begin a four-day meeting with the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) on Wednesday in Abuja, the participants hope to find ways to consolidate on the successes of 2015.

The meeting, a tradition that dunks off activities of a new season, is expected to make far-reaching decisions on issues about the development of the game.

Of importance is the preparation for the D’Tigers’ participation in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in Brazil and the D’Tigresses bid to qualify for the competition also.

It will also look at the men’s and women’s basketball leagues in the 2016 season.

Tagged the NBBF Stakeholders Forum, it will hold at the National Institute for Sports (NIS) in Abuja with coaches in the Zenith Bank Women’s and DStv Basketball Men’s leagues in attendance.

Other various division leagues coaches and officials for the men and women youth leagues, coordinators, all club owners, team managers, the media, technical officials, referees and members of the federation are expected to attend also.

As usual, issues confronting the federation and all other problems confronting each group will be deliberated upon and solutions proffered to foster a way forward for the federation.

The News Agency of Nigerian (NAN) reports that Nigeria’s basketball history in 2015 is replete with successes with the men’s and women’s elite league having new club champions.

Dolphins Basketball Club had defeated the perennial champions, First Bank Club of Lagos and First Deepwater of Lagos to win their
first ever championship trophy of the Zenith Bank Women’s League.

Mark Mentors of Abuja, following their footsteps emerged the champions of the DStv Basketball Men’s League at the expense of the
league’s all time’s champions, Kano Pillars.

The achievements for the two teams, showed the level of development in competitiveness and the level of quality of players at the nation’s disposal for international competitions.

The year in review also witnessed tremendous success at the junior level which had eluded the country for many years.

The Junior T’gresses, the female U-17 female national team, won silver medal at the Africa Junior Championship and qualifying for the World Championship this year.

The African Basketball Championship trophy won by the D’Tigers could perhaps be the biggest of the achievements having claimed it for the first time and gaining automatic qualifications to the Olympics.

The men and women teams to the All Africa Games in Brazaville, Congo, also made it to the podium, claiming silver and bronze medals respectively.

Some of the coaches, who will participate in the forum, told NAN that they expected decisions to be reached to help to consolidate on the 2015 achievements.

Coach Peter Ahmedu of First Bank Basketball club told NAN that the federation needed to continue to make quality decisions that would
grow the game.

“I believe that 2015 was a great year in Nigeria’s basketball history, but we cannot rest on this, there are still grey areas to tackle to
make the nation great in basketball.

“The future starts from how well we can make the right decisions for the growth of the game nationwide and, especially developing our
domestic leagues,’’ Ahmedu said.

Coach Lateef Erinfolami of the Lagos Islanders club said that the future of the game was important and that the right decisions must be
taken now.

“The nation has finally broken the jinx of winning the African title; we are now a nation to reckon with in basketball, this has
implications and it shows that we have to continue to improve.

“I am looking forward to the stakeholders forum that will generate the right decisions for leagues and for our basketball at the national
level,’’ Erinfolami said.