Basketball: 24 Academies Battle For Glory As ABA U-18 League Tips Off In Abuja

Twenty-four basketball academies and hundreds of players aged 18 and below have begun competing in the pilot edition of the Amateur Basketball Academies (ABA) League in Abuja, as organisers seek to create a structured pathway for developing Nigeria’s next generation of basketball stars.

The U-18 competition, drawn from academies across the Federal Capital Territory añd environ was declared open at the Mo Arena in Abuja on Saturday by the President and Founder of ABA, Lucky Aliyu Abubakar.

Abubakar said the league was established to keep the dreams of young basketballers alive while providing them with the discipline, development and competitive exposure required to fulfil their potential.

“We are giving dream on this platform. Today we are keeping the dream of these young ones alive. This is why our message is simple but powerful: dream alive,” he said.

He stressed that Nigeria was blessed with enormous basketball talent but warned that talent alone was not enough to guarantee success.

According to Abubakar, young players must be discovered, nurtured, educated, disciplined and given opportunities to compete if Nigeria is to build a sustainable basketball development system.

He noted that the beneficiaries of the programme could go beyond becoming professional players and national team stars, with opportunities also available in coaching, refereeing, sports administration, sports science, journalism and sports entrepreneurship.

“For all these possibilities to become a reality, we must build a structure of development pathway. This is what ABA is committed to doing,” he said.

Abubakar described the Abuja League as a pilot for a wider national programme, expressing the ambition to replicate the competition in cities across Nigeria.

“The Amateur Basketball Academy Abuja League is there for a pilot test, but it represents a much bigger vision. Today we are starting the dream for these young basketballers,” he said.

He urged players, coaches and referees to respect one another throughout the competition, describing the league as the beginning of a journey towards greater opportunities for young basketballers.

Also speaking at the opening ceremony, Chairman of the FCT Basketball Association, Igwe Ifeanyi Eke, commended Abubakar for launching the initiative and praised the coaches for bringing together the young talents.

Eke challenged the players to make the most of the platform, expressing hope that many of them would rise to the highest level of the sport.

“My prayer today is that, from all these talents here, by next year I will see so many of you up there, like Michael Jordan and Al-Farouq Aminu,” he said.

He also pointed to the presence of coaches, sponsors and scouts as evidence of the opportunities available to the young players.

“The coaches are here, the players are here, the sponsors are already here, and I’m 100 per cent sure that the scouts are here,” Eke added.

He commended Abubakar, Coach Emmanuel Oda and the ABA team, as well as the media team, supporters and executives, for their roles in making the pilot league possible.