FIBA Africa will host an all-girls regional youth camp (U16) in Kigali from September 26-28 in efforts to continue basketball development initiative on the continent.
Following similar successful events in 2021 and 2022, the continental governing body has organised separate camps for boys and girls. The boys' camp will take place from September 20-22 in Bamako, Mali before the girls’ camp come to Kigali on September 26.
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Kigali has become synonymous with African basketball in recent years due to massive infrastructural investment. The Rwandan capital city is set to host 45 girls from 15 countries for the camp.
These young girls will have 15 coaches who will use their expertise to advance FIBA Africa's mission of identifying and developing the best young African basketball players; working on the technical aspects of the sport.
The camp will also focus on the youngsters' leadership abilities as organisers look to prepare them to become great players in the continent and beyond while leaving a positive impact on the environment.
In the inaugural edition of the Youth Camps, 35 countries were invited with 45 girls and 90 boys participating in the three camps held in Nairobi, Kenya, Saly, Senegal and Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire.
The second edition assumed a similar format where the boys' and girls' camps ran concurrently in one venue. A total 60 players per gender from 35 countries were invited for the camps which took place in Tana, Madagascar, Saly, Senegal and Casablanca, Morocco.
In the two editions held so far, 80 per cent of African countries (43 invited) have been represented by sending players and/or coaches to the camps. Over 100 players per gender were benefitted.
Some of the success stories from the last two camps include Egypt's Salma Khedr who attended the FIBA Africa Youth Camp in 2022 and represented Egypt at the FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup in Hungary the same year.
She went on to feature for the country in the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup in Spain in 2023.
Malian Samake Fatoumata is another FIBA Africa Youth Camp alumnus for the 2022 edition.
Like Khedr, Fatoumata was in Hungary with Mali for the U17 Women's Basketball World Cup, a year after lifting the U16 African Championship title as the Malians won their seventh title in a row. She was also in Spain for the U19 event.