THE National Basketball Association (NBA) will officially launch the first season of the Jr. NBA Basketball League at the Jakaya M. Kikwete (JMK) Youth Park in Dar es Salaam on Saturday.
NBA Vice-President and Managing Director
– Africa Amadou Gallo Fall said the event will
be attended by Women
National Basketball Association (WNBA) All-Star and legend Allison
Feaster.
The event will mark the start of the
inaugural Jr. NBA season for boys aged 12 to 14. The league will feature
30 local schools, each representing one of the 30 NBA teams.
The Jr. NBA League is the NBA’s global
youth basketball participation programme for boys and girls, and teaches
them fundamental basketball skills as well as the core values of the
game at a grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the
youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents.
JMK Park, constructed to the tune of 2
million US dollars (about 4bn/-), is part of Symbion Power, Grasshopper
Soccer and English Premier League side Sunderland AFC’s groundbreaking
football partnership with Tanzania.
The state-of-the-art centre was
inaugurated in October last year by former President Jakaya Kikwete, who
said, the new sports facility in Dar es Salaam is the definite way of
transforming the country’s sports.
He said the completion of the park at
Kidongo Chekundu, marks the beginning of the new era of the country’s
sports history, as it provides various facilities for youth to nurture
their talents in a professional manner.
“We are so lucky to have this unique
facility and we have to thank Symbion Power and Sunderland AFC for their
wonderful job and generosity to us.
The onus is ours now to make good use
and maximise the facility,” said the president. He urged Tanzanians to
repay the generosity by ensuring that they sustain the quality and
standard of the park and make sure that the targeted people -- boys and
girls benefit from the new park.
The president also commended Symbion
Power and Sunderland AFC partnership which has facilitated the
completion of the project in time. The park consists of modern football
pitch, two basketball courts, hockey, netball and beach volleyball
courts.
It provides a great opportunity for
those juniors who were unable to pay or have access to such facilities.
Sunderland AFC in collaboration with US National Basketball Association
(NBA) manages and provides technical support for the park, with the aim
in nurturing and developing talents.
