Rwanda national basketball team head coach Cheikh Sarr has been named among the FIBA instructors who will facilitate the FIBA Africa Youth Camps that will get underway in Bamako, Mali from September 20-22.
Sarr is a certified FIBA instructor who can offer training to both players and coaches. He holds a PhD in Psychology of Sports and a Masters in Sports Education.
FIBA Africa Regional Youth Camp returns to Kigali, Bamako
The camp is an important part of FIBA Africa’s development strategy as it aims at preparing young players for rigours of future competitions.
Some 55 players, coming from more than 30 countries, will congregate in the Salle feue Salamatou Maiga where they will meet with 15 coaches during the three-day camp.
FIBA Africa has collaborated with some of the most notable African basketball names to ensure the success of the camp.
The Bamako camp will be a boys-only event. An all-girls camp, this time featuring 15 female coaches, will be held on September 26-28 in Kigali, Rwanda.
Skill development, personal development and leadership skills will occupy a big part of the campers’ days at the arena.
On the final day, an All-Star Game will see the best players battle each other before the closing ceremony brings an end to the camp.
The FIBA Africa Youth Camp is a FIBA Africa’s flagship event for training and development. Since its inception in 2021, the Youth Camp has reached 80% of the African countries, impacting 43 nations.
Globally, 90 girls and 150 boys have participated in the different Youth Camps.
The FIBA Africa Youth Camp has been implemented as an elite program to identify and harness the best young African basketball players, who are coached by a set of experts delivering advice on the technical aspects of the game.
Renowned basketball figures such as Astou N'Diaye, NBA Africa Ambassador; Christelle Ngarsanet, former Ivorian national team player, Robert Pack, who played in the NBA for 13 seasons before becoming the head coach of Rwanda Energy Group (REG) during the 2022 BAL season and NBA legend Olumide Oyedeji are part of the line-up of instructors for the different workshops.
These workshops also aim to give young people the tools to fuel change using basketball as a medium, as well as giving them tools for their personal development and instilling leadership values in the young players.
Since its launch in 2021, a number of players have made a name for themselves. Among them, Egypt’s Salma Khedr and Saifaddin Hendawy, Madagascar’s Andri Lovasoa and Mali’s Fatoumata Samake.