U.S. Consulate-backed OBN HOOP Summit Championship dunks off with six teams

The Organised Basketball Network Academy (OBN) Championship, tagged Hoop Summit, dunked off at the weekend with six teams vying for honours at the academy hall in Ajah, Lagos State.

According to the founder/CEO of OBN Academy, Obinna Ekezie, the championship, supported by the U.S. Consulate, is aimed at discovering talents, who will be offered education and basketball scholarships in American universities.

He noted that all the players at OBN Academy have the opportunity to get better careers in the sport with the level of standard training given to them at all levels of the dunking game.

“The OBN Academy is organising the Hoop Summit to assess the level of growth and performance of the players in the academy so far.

“This is the second edition of the championship, which will be highly competitive than the first edition based on the high level of coaching given to the players.

“With the support of the American Consulate in Nigeria, our objective is to discover and help more players get an American basketball scholarship to sharpen their skills in the game,” he said.

Special Assistant to Lagos State Governor on Education, Adetola Salau, who was present at the opening ceremony of the championship, said the OBN Academy initiative would help in developing basketball in the country.

“The Lagos State government is always in support of private initiatives to promote sports end education because the state government is ready to ensure sports grow in the state.

“Based on my support for the basketball academy, I also enrolled my child in the academy. Lagos State is in full support of the development initiative by OBN,” she said.

Teams in the championship are Vedione Voltage, New Song Basketball Academy, OBN Elite, The Future, Ebon Comets and Raptors Academy.

The final and closing ceremony of the event is on August 6.