Sports

Female Basketball League Excites Fans

Published

12 years ago

November 2, 2011

Basketball fans leapt with joy after they watched First Deepwater Basketball Club of Lagos defeat city rivals First Bank 65-57 to retain the 7th Zenith Bank Female Basketball Championship title over the weekend.

What is significant about the victory is that First Bank who lost the title it held for five consecutive years to First Deepwater in 2010, again missed regaining it this year, signalling a wind of change in the country’s basketball.

Followers of the game before the final phase of the competition dunked off on October 20 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos, had said that the era of one team dominance had gone.

It will be recalled that First Deepwater had led the first Phase in Kano and the second Phase in Akure.

Even the coach of First Deepwater, Lateef Erinfolami, said that his team had prepared adequately to retain the championship’s title because he knew that basketball has grown to a point where no team is regarded as a minnow.

Erinfolami, overwhelmed with joy, praised his players for their good showing in the competition, especially Nkechi Akachili who won the Highest Scorer and Most Valuable Player. He promised to ensure that the team retained the title in 2012.

First Bank coach Adewunmi Aderemi also told the Tidesports prior to the competition, that he was coming to regain the title and that in doing that, he was not leaving anything to chance since any team could spring surprises.

Although disappointed with not clinching the trophy, which he attributed to his girls not playing to instruction, Aderemi admitted that the competition was well organised and that officiating was unbiased.

According to him, it showed that the game is now fast growing and becoming more competitive, giving every team the opportunity to have a shot at the title.

The President, Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Tijani Umar said that the standard of the competition had improved over the years and expressed delight with the quality of the players whom, he noted, would be selected to join the national team.

He thanked the sponsors for their continued support which led to the winners getting N1 million as against the previous N750,000; the second position which used to get N500,000 got N750,000 and the third occupied by Sunshine Angels of Akure were given N500,000— up from N350,000. “I hope the cordial relationship between the NBBF and the sponsors continues to blossom for the good of the game,” Umar said. Some of the fans told Tidesport that they were surprised at the quality of the game by the participating teams, saying it was of international standard.

They said that if a young club like First Deepwater that was appearing for the third time could win the title back to back, it meant the game was progressing.

Tidesports reports that other clubs that competed in the league were Nigeria Customs of Lagos, Dolphins of Lagos, Delta Force of Asaba, Sunshine Angels of Akure, FCT Angels, AHIP Queens of Kano, Plateau Rocks and Nigeria Immigration of Kano.

Other teams officials who spoke to Tidesports commended the unbiased officiating of the tournament and called on the NBBF to regularly train and re-train the officials to update them with the latest rules and regulations of the sport.Tidesports reports that there was no incidence of violence recorded during the competition as adequate security was provided. The champions, First Deepwater and runners-up First Bank, will represent Nigeria in the Africa Club Championship at a yet to be determined venue and date.

Sports

Expert Wants Parents To Enroll Children In Vector Programme

Published

4 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

In a bid to have more young talented Nigerians to play professional football abroad, Johnny Ogbah, a sports lawyer and football intermediary, has called on parents to enroll their children in Vector Programme.
He stated that the programme is in conjunction with Conventry Football Club in United Kingdom (UK), saying that the programme includes academics where a child can acquire a degree.
Ogbah, made the call while addressing sports journalists recently in Port Harcourt, as the programme will admit students into Brooke College between the age of 11 and 18 Football Academy.
The major objective of Vector Programme is to give the young ones a career through sports and good education. The programme does not train people on football only but also other things that is related to sporting environment, he said.
According to him, more than 20 Nigerians have benefited from the programme on scholarship and most of them are now playing football in top clubs in Europe.
“Vector programme was poised to create an avenue to give people to play football to the highest level.
Apart from football the child can also have quality education. It will interest you to know that those in Vector programme play friendly games that attracts scouts from different countries and football clubs.
The programme doesn’t train you on only football but also train people on everything that is associated to sports”, Ogbah said.
The former Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) player further disclosed Vector programme pathways provides the practice opportunities that players need if they are to successfully graduate as a professional player.

By: Tonye Orabere

Sports

NLO: Khana FC Coach Blames Players For Missing Chances

Published

4 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

The Head Coach of Khana FC in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Sam Ledor, has blamed his players as they were unable to convert scoring chances.
According to him, if those chances created in their opening match against Jet Bomber FC at the ongoing Nation wide League One (NLO), in Omoku centre were converted, it would have given them victory.
Ledor, said this on Saturday in a chat with Tidesports shortly after they played goalless draw against Jet Bomber FC in their opening match in 2024 NLO Division in Omoku, Rivers State.
“ We created a lot of scoring chances but could not find the net”, he said.
He explained that playing goalless draw is not a bad result in football but in a competition like this, they need to score goals and win matches.
“ My brother, we missed a lot of scoring chances which is not good. I trainned my players on how to create chances and to convert them.
“ What is important in a competition is winning but as we did not lose the game, we will look forward for our next game.
“We will go back to the drawing board and correct the grey areas in our game and ensure we get better results in our next outing.
“Today’s game is gone, what we need to do is to make sure we win our next game,” he stated.
He pointed out that no game comes easy but the effort you put in will give good result. They tried their best today and the result was good for both teams but we need to win our next game.
“My opponents were also a good side; they tried all what they could but didn’t score also. It was a good game but my team needs to win games,” he added.

By: Kiadum Edookor

Sports

Wilkins Backs Rivers Hoopers To Spring Surprises At 2024 BAL

Published

4 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

A French-American, John Walter Wilkins is confident Rivers Hoopers can make it to the playoff round of the 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Wilkins, who is the son of former NBA player Jeff Wilkins, linked up with his Hoopers teammates at the team’s training camp in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, ahead of the 2024 BAL Savannah Conference games, which tip off on Saturday, 4th May, 2024, in Dakar, Senegal.
Wilkins is no stranger to African basketball, having played for Moroccan sides AS Salé (2015-2016) and Ittihad Tanger (2017-2019), before leading Stade Malien to a third-place finish at BAL 2023.
Looking ahead to the 2024 BAL, Wilkins says the quality of basketball across Africa has improved, with the BAL requiring a high level of competitiveness, but backed Rivers Hoopers to spring a surprise at the tournament.
“It’s a really high level, a great competition; [it’s] one of the best I’ve played in since I’ve been in Africa. But we don’t need to be scared. We need to just attack the moment, be there, be present, and I think if we are confident in our abilities, we can surprise people,” he said.
Since its inaugural season in 2021, Nigerian teams have appeared twice at the BAL, with Rivers Hoopers playing in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2021 and Kwara Falcons featuring at BAL 2023.
Despite failing to reach the playoffs on both previous occasions, Wilkins is optimistic that with the quality of players in the Hoopers squad as well as the recruitment done ahead of the BAL, Rivers Hoopers will be more competitive in this season’s BAL.
“I’m really optimistic. I know that those past years the teams from Nigeria didn’t do well, but I think with me, Kelvin [Amayo], Will [Perry], and the other guys, I think we can show the way, have some wins, and be more competitive,” he stated.
The Nigerian Champions were drawn in the Savannah Conference alongside former BAL Champions US Monastir (Tunisia), last year’s runners-up AS Douanes (Senegal), and APR (Rwanda).