Grassroots development key to basketball growth, says Mark

[FILES] Basketball

Nigeria must invest in the youths and encourage grassroots development for the country’s basketball to grow to its desired level, factional president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Igoche Mark, has said.

Mark, who said building the game from the grassroots is his main priority, added that the country has the talents to challenge the best teams in the world, adding, however, that the country must invest in its talents to reach the desired height.

Speaking in Lagos at the weekend, the proprietor of Mark Mentors Basketball Club said: “The decay in Nigerian basketball has been alarming in the last four years, that’s why I joined the race for the election and January 31 I was elected NBBF president in Abuja. It’s a heavy task, but it’s doable.

“We want to focus on grassroots basketball development, we have the talents but we don’t harness them. If we had eight NBA Drafts last time, it means we have the talents. Then why is it not impacting on the local scene? That’s the problem and reason we want to focus on the grassroots.

“What’s killing the game here is lack of facilities. Playing on hard surfaces isn’t good, it shortens the careers of the players. We want to bring back age-grade events and the local leagues; without the local leagues, we can’t progress.

“Ejike Ugboaja was drafted from the local league to the NBA. If we had a sustainable league, only God knows how many players would have made it like Ejike.”

He regretted that some players have been forced to retire from the game because of inactivity in the last five years.

“We have very good players who left to become labourers and casual workers, but they could have gone farther in the game if they were given the opportunity.

“That’s what