Luanda — At least 150 young athletes from basketball academies in the country took part, this Saturday, at the Cidadela pavilion, in Luanda, in positional development exercises, an initiative of Junior NBA-Africa.

The activity was based on various stages of sports training taking into account the basic rules of the sport among participants up to 18 years of age.

The project is part of a multi-year partnership between the North American organization focused in Africa and the mobile phone company Africell, which started operation in in 2022.

The training actions were guided by national coaches, in the presence of the head of basketball operations for NBA-Africa, Franck Traore, the Africell's CEO and COO, Christopher Lundh and James Browns, respectively.

This worldwide basketball development program, with a community reach, has already reached more than 100 boys and girls in Angola since its kick off.

Speaking to ANGOP, the head of basketball operations for NBA-Africa, Senegalese Franck Traore, said that Angola is a country rich in young people with great talent for the practice of the sport, a factor that enchants him.

He said that the fact that Angola is a sport reference on the African continent was essential for it to benefit from the project, which is intended to cover the entire continent.

He added that the idea is to guide young talents with the aim of selecting them to attend the NBA-Africa Academy, located in Senegal, where the sporting aspect goes hand in hand with the academic one, but with greater priority for the latter.

During the activity, the former basketball player had several moments of interaction with the coaches and the dominant speech was the call for commitment and dedication to studies, so that the doors open for the Academy and for the NBA, in the future.

Each participating athlete was offered a ball.