After months (maybe years) of a rigorous planning process involving hundreds of stakeholders from across continents, the Basketball Experience Kenya was launched on the overcast, wintry morning of Friday, July 19, 2024. The colorful event marked the beginning of a three-year program that seeks to influence not just the sport of basketball, but also the lives of all the participants. From the players to the coaches to the communities they come from. A revolutionary partnership that can best be described as timely for young people across the country. If basketball is a ladder, then the Basketball Experience is a set of rungs that serves to push everyone involved a tad higher.
It was not just pomp and pageantry on the court, it was also a well-attended event on the bleachers. Renowned athletes; Catherine Ndereba and Tegla Lorupe, government representatives; Sports PS Eng. Peter Tum and Kenya Academy of Sports C.E.O Dr. Doree Odhiambo, the French Ambassador to Kenya, H.E Arnaud Sequet, NBA’s Country Director Michael Finley, and many other friends of sports in Kenya braved the chilly drizzle for the love of the game.
The official ribbon-cutting ceremony stepped away from the normal and was reminiscent of what has happened and past launches in other countries. Basketball being a team sport, it can only make sense for the ribbon-cutting to be a joint event and therefore, we have different dignitaries holding different pairs of scissors to signify team spirit and by extension, to communicate the need for cooperation, not just in the result but also the process. It was a site to marvel at, seeing the young players participate in the adrenaline-filled drills facilitated by their coaches and NBA staff.
In the Swahili language, there is a popular adage that goes, “mbona tuandikie mate ilhal wino upo?” That is to say—contextually speaking, without sharing the media from the launch event, this write-up would just be a write-up—so ladies and gentlemen here is what happened—caught in frozen moments of photography and videography.
