ABA Takes Grassroots Basketball Development Drive to Makurdi, Trains 11 Coaches

The Amateur Basketball Academies (ABA) has taken its nationwide grassroots basketball development initiative to Makurdi, Benue State, where 11 coaches from eight academies participated in a one-day coaching clinic.

The clinic, tagged “Team Work”, was held at Royal Choice Hotel, GRA, Makurdi, as the third edition of the ABA’s nationwide coaching programme following previous clinics in the Federal Capital Territory and Minna, Niger State.

The initiative is aimed at strengthening grassroots basketball development, identifying emerging talents and equipping academy coaches with updated rules, coaching techniques and tactical knowledge in line with global best practices.

Speaking at the event, ABA President and Founder, Deputy Comptroller in the Nigeria Customs Service, Aliyu Lucky Abubakar, urged the participating coaches to continually improve their knowledge and skills to enable them compete favourably with their counterparts around the world.

Abubakar expressed concern over the current state of basketball development in Nigeria and called on stakeholders to set aside their differences and embrace unity in the interest of the sport.

He stressed the need for stakeholders to reposition basketball beyond recreation, with greater emphasis on talent identification, revenue generation and sustainable development.

The ABA president also described the coaching clinic as strictly apolitical, saying the initiative was designed to bring together different factions within the basketball community through the various academies.

He disclosed that the nationwide programme would culminate in a mega basketball tournament in Abuja later in the year, providing another platform for young talents to showcase their abilities while strengthening collaboration among basketball 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.

In support of the development of basketball in Benue State, Abubakar donated ₦400,000 to the Secretary of the Benue State Basketball Association to facilitate the registration of all eight academies that participated in the clinic with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

The clinic tutors – Coaches Adeka Daudu, Emmanuel Odah, Oyekan and Alex Ujoh – also encouraged participants to embrace technology as an important tool in modern basketball coaching and player development.

The coaches urged the participants to incorporate technology into their training programmes to improve player assessment, tactical preparation and overall performance.

Participants and stakeholders at the Makurdi clinic welcomed the initiative, describing it as a timely intervention for the development of basketball at the grassroots.

They pledged to transfer the knowledge acquired during the training to their respective academies and use it to improve the quality of coaching and player development in Benue State.

The 11 coaches representing the eight participating academies were presented with accredited ABA certificates of participation at the conclusion of the clinic.

Meanwhile, members of the ABA board travelled to Otukpo, Benue State, where they witnessed an ongoing inter-school sports festival and summer basketball camp organised by the US-based Coach Peter Ahmedu AS Foundation Raising Champions.

As part of the ABA’s support for the grassroots initiative, Coach Adeka Dauda, on behalf of the organisation, presented 10 basketballs to the organisers of the camp.

The ABA said the gesture further underlined its commitment to supporting grassroots basketball programmes and creating opportunities for young players to develop their skills.