Lagos Are Rising Stars U17 Girls Basketball Champions

Published

5 years ago

December 10, 2021

Lagos Beat Ogun State To Win 2021 Rising Stars U17 Girls Basketball Championship

Lagos U17 Girls Basketball team are champions of the maiden edition of Southwest Rising Stars U17 Girls Basketball Championship.

Lagos who won all their four matches in the tournament en route to the final defeated Ogun (63-55) on Thursday at the Indoor Sports Hall, National Stadium, Surulere to lift the trophy.

Lagos started the final like a house on fire with 16-09 and went ahead to win the second quarter (17-11) but lost 19-22 and 11-13 to Ogun in the third and fourth quarters.

Earlier before the final, Osun state emerged as the third-best team after handing a one-point defeat to Ondo (34-33) to win the bronze medal.

Samuel Gbemisola, a Lagos State player emerged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament.

The week-long basketball championship started on Friday, December 3, and ended December 9 with six states from the Southwest part of Nigeria participating in the round-robin tournament.

The Olumide Oyedeji Youth Foundation had in April 2021 held Rising Stars U17 Boys Basketball Championship in Akure Ondo where Lagos State emerged champions after beating Oyo State in the final.

Elated Olumide Oyedeji said he was satisfied with the outcome of the competition and expected to see the players use the platform to greater heights.

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Fresh Ideas, Science Needed to Revitalise Basketball —ABA

Published

6 days ago

September 27, 2026

The Gleamer

Cyril Ogar

President/Founder, Amateur Basketball Academies, ABA, Aliyu Lucky Abubakar has called for a scientific and pragmatic approach to rediscovering the game of basketball in the North East.

The former player of many teams in Nigeria stated this on Saturday during training of coaches in Yola, Adamawa State.

Aliyu said the training is aimed to arm Coaches so they can, in turn, reach the children, especially those that ABA may not. The Deputy Comptroller in Nigeria Customs Service decried non-challant attitudes of the stakeholders in the development of basketball in the North East.

” Basketball is fading in the North East, and we at ABA will not allow it to die.”

“Adamawa was once a force in the game of basketball but had fallen behind. Our plan is to discover talent through coaching training, nurture it, and carry it from state level to the national team, and eventually, the global stage.” The basketball administrator said.

In his keynote message to the participants, which centered on the theme, “HOPE,” Harnessing opportunity, Organising for excellence, Promoting players’ development, and Empowering the next generation, Aliyu said, is far more than a drill instructors.

” Every child you see on a basketball court has a dream, and it is our job as a coach to spot it early and give it somewhere to go.” He concluded.

In his lecture titled, ” Who is a Coach”, Emmanuel Odah, the head Coach, FCT Basketball and former National Juniors team, described a coach as a committed, organised, affectionate, caring and humble.

” Commitment is consistency, and consistency is mother of progress; humility comes first because a coach who can not control himself can never control a game,” Odah insisted.

Other instructors at the training include ABA head of technical, Coach Adeka Daudu, as well as Coach Alexander Anyebe Ujoh, who spoke about the relationship between a coach and child in his care.

Coaches at the training commended ABA for its boldness to give hopes to basketball coaches all over the country. They promised that lessons learned would reshape and reset their mind on the job. They said the training will help them in understanding their role not only as an instructor but also grooming the children for a better future.

Among guests at the event include FCT Acting Director of Sports, Mr. Iyiola Ogundele and Bayelsa Veteran Basketball administrator, Coach Tony

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