ACTUALITE |
26.08.2004
Basketball Creates Sensation in Cameroon
For sometime now, Cameroonians, especially those of the younger generation, are getting more and more interested in Basketball. In virtually all neighbourhoods in Yaounde, for example, there are areas where youths gather in the evenings to throw balls into little baskets hung on electric poles or trees.
The country is already reaping the fruits of this new-found enthusiasm. Last month, the under 20 national basketball team created sensation in Senegal. This was during the African Cup of Nations in the category. The team, encouraged by its captain cum best player of the tournament, Patrick Bouli, disproved bookmakers as it sailed through to the finals. The much coveted trophy of champions slipped through their fingers as they lost to Nigeria by a slim score of 82-83. They however came back home with the silver medal.
It was the first time after several decades that Cameroon’s basketball was leaving its mark on the international scene. Reason why they were given the necessary honours by sports authorities in the country — reception by the Minister of Youth and Sports, Siegfried David Etame Massoma. Considering that this achievement came barely two years after the senior basketball team grabbed the title of leaders of African Zone IV, there is every reason to explore the renaissance. What is it that makes young Cameroonians to tick when basketball is mentioned? What is the secret behind the recent successes in the discipline and what can be done to lift young players from amateurs to great professionals?
Several reasons can be forwarded for this. Many observers link the present conquest to the reorganised national championship which has given room to the development of young talents. There now exist provincial and national championships for all categories: youths, women, seniors. Regular zone competitions, dubbed "meetings" are also organised throughout the country to fish talents.
Cameroonians basketballers in the diaspora have also contributed a lot to revamp basketball in the country. Within one month, for example, two training camps for young basketballers were organised in Yaounde by two illustrious sons of Cameroon now offering their talents in the United States of America. The first camp by Joe Touomou ended with the award of six scholarships to the best players, while the second by Ruben Boumtje Boumtje was to teach the fundamentals of basketball to young people. The overall goal was to help budding talents develop their skills.
With such impetus from Cameroonians who have succeeded in the sports at the international scene, and with the help of promoters such as the American Embassy in Yaounde that has promised to organise more basketball camps in Cameroon, there is no doubt that in a few years, basketball will create space for itself in the hearts of Cameroonians. But as Boumtje and Touomou say, the construction of a modern gymnasium, the distribution of equipment, the early detection of talents, the exposure of Cameroonian players to international competitions, the training of an elite of Cameroonian coaches in the USA are indispensable if basketball must evolve faster in Cameroon.
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