By Akeem Busari
President of Nigeria Basketball Federation Engr. Ahmadu Musa Kida has praised the efforts of the Nigerian boys and girls school teams to the ISF World School Basketball Championship in Belgrade, Serbia.
Both the boys and girls teams who represented Nigeria at the championship are from Bayelsa State. At the end of their participation, Nigeria finished 6th in the boys category after beating Chinese Taipei 51-42. While in the girls category, Nigeria defeated India 65-31 to finish in the 9th position.
In his message, NBBF boss, Kida remarked that the teams did not perform badly, considering that as school athletes, the championship was their first outside the country.
“I salute the bravery of our boys and girls school teams to the world championship. Yes, they didn’t make it to the podiums, but their performances showed glimpses of better days ahead for them in the game, and Nigerian basketball in general,” Kida remarked.
Kida also commended the leadership of Nigeria Schools Sports Federation, and particularly, praised Bayelsa State Government for sponsoring the teams to the championship.
“On behalf of NBBF, I say a big thank you to His Excellency, Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State and his wife ,the First Lady, Dr.(Mrs). Gloria Ebibomo Diri, for this gestures, which would go ahead to further encourage and inspire this school basketballers and indeed, other youths in the state,” he said.
Continuing, the experienced and multiple awards winning sports administrator, went ahead to reiterate the commitments of his board to the total development of the game in Nigeria. Adding that grassroots and collegiate competitions are top priorities in the programmes of the NBBF board.
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