Apart from transforming one’s inertness—physical or otherwise—to an endless proclivity to
activeness, basketball has a life-changing component, as premised by Michael Finley a
former basketball professional now serving as the NBA’s country director. “Basketball
helped change my life.” He says, “It teaches you everything about life, how to win, lose,
teamwork, discipline, etc. I don’t just love the sport I love what it does to young people.”
Easily put, basketball teaches you life. With this understanding, it is easy to say that,
everyone seeks to develop an aspect in their lives when they join the sport. And history is
awash with many testaments of visible changes in the lives of individuals that have made
the sport one with their lives.
Those who say things say that East Africa is a very youthful region, with 80% of its more than
three hundred million people below 35. Further, the median age ranges between 16-19.
Needless to say, these are mind-boggling numbers. Harnessing their energy to optimize
their growth potential, can be achieved through sports and more specifically, basketball.
The Basketball Experience is about achieving that.
By nurturing young people early enough, they can acquire a roadmap to develop talent,
transform their thinking about the sport, and encourage them to see basketball as part of
their future—professionally.
As Michael avers, Africa is a rich repository of talent. “Africa has the largest pool of talent.
Everybody knows that. And we want to give young people the opportunity to change their
lives using the game of basketball. People like Hasheem Thabeet who came from Tanzania
and went on to play in the NBA are proof of this.” Says he. “We have a young lady going
down to South Africa to participate in our Basketball Without Borders NBA camp, and we
are looking forward to seeing how that will hopefully lead to her getting other
opportunities.”
With such initiatives, and the large pool of talent drawn from the tens of schools that will
benefit from the program, it is likely that in a few years, more young people will participate
in the sport professionally. This means jobs. It means the growth of the basketball industry
beyond the court. It means, that individual dreams can be achieved. The courts the program
is building/upgrading to international standards, are the playing field for this, literally and
figuratively.
Lastly, even though each player has a personal goal, basketball is never an individual pursuit,
it is a social construct that goes beyond a single player in the team regardless of how good
they can be. There is also a congregation beyond the court. We have fans, coaches and
trainers, support staff, and the media most of who are youthful people. The anticipated
transformation, will not end at the touchline. There is a whole population waiting to benefit
from this initiative.