Sports Ministry begins secondary school basketball tourney in June

Players take part in a secondary school basketball championship in Ilorin, Kwara State. The Sports Ministry has concluded plans to begin a youth basketball championship for Nigerian secondary schools.

In order to initiate grassroots basketball development in Nigeria and give opportunities to young and talented youth, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has concluded plans to begin a zonal youth basketball championship across Nigeria’s six geo- political zones.

Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, said on national television that the Ministry, through its Grassroots Department, will leverage on its six zonal coordinators to start a month-long basketball competition amongst secondary schools, starting in June.

He revealed that two representatives are expected to emerge from each zone. The twelve teams will then converge in Abuja or Lagos for a week-long championship.

Sources in the Ministry say the grassroots development project will likely be tagged Basketball Youth Talent Hunt and it is expected to ignite developmental efforts in basketball.

Recently, the Federal Government withdrew Nigeria from international competitions in order to rebuild the game of basketball and revamp the domestic leagues.

It was learnt at the weekend that the Sports Ministry will in the next few days make further pronouncements on the road map.

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