The National Olympic Committee (RNOC) has partnered with American sports company, Global Sports to nurture and develop the next generation of Basketball stars in Rwanda. The California based Non-profit Organisation runs several youth programs worldwide with special emphasis on physical, emotional and developmental benefits of sports for youth. A technical team from the Ministry of Sports, Work force Development Authority (WDA), National Olympic Committee and Global Sports last month inspected Musanze Polytechnic Basketball Academy to assess infrastructure and explore ways to further develop it. Robert Bayigamba, the president of the National Olympic Committee said a memorandum of understanding (MOU) of five years will be signed with Global Sports before the end of September to establish ways of developing basketball players and put in place advanced training regimes. “Having investors in sports will help us to reach the top level like Angola, Tunisia, which are some of the best countries in basketball on the continent. Our goal is to put special emphasis on youth, that is why we are pleased to partner with Global Sports,” Bayigamba said. Joby Wright, Senior Vice President for Global Sports Programs and also a former NBA player said their mission is to help developing countries get facilities that can help youth nurture their talent from an early age. “We want to upgrade basketball coaching for youth. Our main target is to connect sports industry expertise and resources to opportunities in the developing world,” said the former Memphis Sounds player. The Musanze Polytechnic academy will have training of trainers, curriculum development, logistics and top notch sports gear. Joby Wright said “There’s a huge interest to do sports and there’s a huge number of young people in Rwanda who can do better, we will identify talented players, we will assist the coaches and in any other way that we can. There’s individual skills in Rwanda but they need to know how to make a good team.” editorial@newtimes.co.rw
