The president of Amateur Basketball Academies (ABA), Aliyu Lucky Abubakar, has come out with a strong declaration that Nigeria is blessed with an abundance of talents in the sport of champions, who can be spotted in every community across the country.
Sports247 reports that Abubakar, who is also the deputy comptroller of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), made the declaration while announcing plans for the next stage of the association’s nationwide basketball development programme this weekend with a coaching clinic in Jalingo, Taraba State.
Abubakar affirmed that the programme is part of the association’s efforts to strengthen basketball development across Nigeria, as ABA continues to expand its nationwide initiative and commitment to developing coaches.
While also asserting ABA’s mission towards nurturing the next generation of basketball talent across the country, Abubakar confirmed that he and other mebers of the board will arrive in Jalingo on Saturday for a day’s training programme for academy coaches.
This follows ABA’s ‘Team Work Coaching Clinic’ in Makurdi, Benue State, where 11 tacticians from eight basketball academies participated in a day’s capacity-building session, and this weekend’s programme in Jalingo, tagged ‘Drive,’ is the fourth leg of the body’s nationwide coaching initiative.
The outreach, which began in June in Abuja before moving to Minna, Niger State and later Makurdi, will continue this Saturday, in partnership with Taraba State Basketball Association, with a view towards further enhancing grassroots development and identifying emerging talent.
The project, which will also involve equipping academy coaches with modern coaching skills, will additionally provide participants with updates on latest basketball rules, coaching techniques and tactical approaches based on best global practices, which Abubakar said promotes structured training systems.
“ABA strongly believes that the future of Nigerian basketball begins at the grassroots level. We believe every community court can produce champions.
We believe every trainer can become a transformational leader. We believe every child deserves an opportunity to dream through sports,” he expatiated.
Sports247 gathered further that, after this weekend’s clinic in Jalingo, ABA’s coaching team of Daudu Adeka, Emmanuel Odah, Alex Ujoh and Oyekan Oyedeji will travel to Gombe on Monday to continue the association’s grassroots technical development programme.
