NBA Africa and Agence Française de Développement (AFD), France’s public development institution, concluded the first year of the Jr. NBA & AFD Basketball Experience (BE), a youth development program that features weekly basketball and life-skills sessions to educate Kenyan youth about the importance of physical and mental health and well-being.
The milestone was marked with final exhibition games for boys and girls ages 16 and under at the Kenya Academy of Sports (KAS) in Nairobi.
Yesterday’s event included a Jr. NBA Clinic for 300 youth, a clinic for children with special needs, and four basketball games between four girls’ teams and four boys’ teams.
The participating youth were selected by BE coaches from schools involved in the programme and had also taken part in a series of exhibition games at BE camps held in Nairobi over the past 12 months, reaching more than 500 youth.
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The BE programming, which incorporates basketball skill-building, life-skills training, and psychological support, has reached more than 52,000 boys and girls ages 9–17.
French Ambassador to Kenya, H.E. Arnaud Suquet, highlighted the initiative’s inclusive and far-reaching impact on Kenyan basketball.
“It has had a tremendous impact. Together with the NBA and the Kenyan Red Cross, we have implemented this practice of basketball in Kenyan schools, especially around Nairobi. And down the line, after one year, 26,000 kids have been enrolled in the programme, 48 schools. And one matter that touched me more is that we have managed to include children with special needs in the programme.”
Eliud Wambua, representing the Principal Secretary, State Department for Basic Education Julius Bitok, said: “When we launched this program, the main objective was to get to the grassroots and reach out to raw talent in young children, particularly in junior school, part of the new competency-based education system in Kenya. This gives us a better base and foundation to have quality teams for our national and international competitions.”