Tanko Urges Unity Among Taraba Basketball Coaches To Revive Sport

A member of the Taraba State House of Assembly and Chairman of the Taraba State Basketball Association, Hon. Tanko Abubakar Yusuf, has urged basketball coaches and stakeholders in the state to unite and embrace continuous learning to accelerate the development of the sport.

Yusuf made the call during a two-day coaching clinic organised by the Amateur Basketball Academies (ABA) in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.

He said Taraba possessed talented coaches, players and referees capable of competing with their counterparts within and outside Nigeria, but stressed that greater unity and knowledge-sharing were needed to maximise the state’s potential.

“We know that we have talented coaches, so also the players as well as excellent referees. All we need is to stay focused and be united. We need to seek more knowledge and impact such knowledge on our players,” Yusuf said.

The lawmaker commended ABA for taking its grassroots coaching development initiative to Taraba, describing the clinic as an important opportunity for coaches to improve their knowledge and contribute more effectively to the growth of basketball.

He also called on basketball stakeholders to support ABA’s efforts to rejuvenate the sport and strengthen its development structure across Nigeria.

The ABA President and Founder, Deputy Comptroller of the Nigeria Customs Service, Aliyu Lucky Abubakar, urged the participants to embrace the association’s vision and make the most of the training.

Abubakar said the theme of the clinic, “DRIVE”, represented Diligence, Respect, Inspiration, Value and Education, which he identified as essential qualities for successful coaches.

The Chairman of the Taraba State Sports Development Commission, Coach Bulus Hussaini, who declared the clinic open, urged the coaches to use the knowledge gained to transform basketball in the state and pledged government support for the development of the sport.

A total of 25 academy coaches are participating in the clinic, which covers topics including Who is a Coach?, coaching ethics, player-coach relationships and player development, among others.