Amateur Basketball Academies organises grassroots coaching clinic in Makurdi
The Amateur Basketball Academies (ABA) has continued its nationwide drive to strengthen grassroots basketball development, with its latest coaching clinic held in Makurdi, Benue State.
The one-day coaching clinic brought together 11 coaches from eight basketball academies across the state. Tagged "Team Work," the programme took place at Royal Choice Hotel, GRA Makurdi, and marked the third edition of the initiative following successful clinics in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Minna, Niger State.
The clinic is designed to promote grassroots basketball development by identifying emerging talents and equipping academy coaches with modern coaching techniques, updated basketball rules, and tactical knowledge in line with global best practices.
Speaking during the event, the President and Founder of the Amateur Basketball Academies and Deputy Comptroller of the Nigeria Customs Service, Aliyu Lucky Abubakar, urged participants to continually improve their knowledge and skills to compete with their counterparts around the world.
He expressed concern over the current state of basketball development in Nigeria and called on stakeholders to put aside their differences in the interest of the sport.
According to him, basketball should be repositioned beyond recreation to focus on talent discovery, revenue generation, and sustainable sports development.
Abubakar stressed that the ABA initiative is strictly apolitical and aimed at uniting all factions within the basketball community through collaboration among academies. He revealed that the nationwide coaching clinics will culminate in a major basketball tournament later this year in Abuja, providing a platform to showcase emerging talents and strengthen partnerships among participating academies.
"ABA is ready to revive and develop the game of basketball in Nigeria through our ongoing nationwide enlightenment and coaching clinic, which is aimed at strengthening grassroots participation in the sport," Abubakar said.
As part of efforts to support the participating academies, the ABA President donated ₦400,000 to the Secretary of the Benue State Basketball Association to facilitate the registration of the eight academies with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Facilitators at the clinic, including Coaches Adeka Daudu, Emmanuel Odah, Oyekan, and Alex Ujoh, encouraged participants to embrace technology in player development and coaching, noting that modern tools are essential for improving performance and keeping pace with global trends.
Participants and stakeholders described the coaching clinic as a timely intervention for basketball development in Benue State and pledged to apply the knowledge gained in their respective academies to enhance the growth of the game.
At the end of the programme, all 11 coaches who participated received accredited ABA Certificates of Participation.
Meanwhile, members of the Amateur Basketball Academies' board visited Otukpo to witness the ongoing Inter-School Sports Festival and Summer Basketball Camp organised by the America-based Coach Peter Ahmedu AS Foundation Raising Champions.
Representing the ABA, Coach Adeka Daudu presented 10 basketballs to support the camp, reaffirming the organisation's commitment to grassroots basketball development across Nigeria.
Join the Savid News channel on WhatsApp:
