Female Basketball League Excites Fans

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.