Stakeholders in the Nigerian basketball fold have continued to share their experiences regarding lack of league organisation in the country for the past four years.
Some of them who spoke during the final of the maiden edition of Felix Kimto memorial basketball championship held inside prestigious Old Parade ground Abuja said the new approach deployed recently in the restructuring of the game would go a long way in sanitising the system.
One of them, Ubon Udoh, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hocklock Basketball club, a grassroots team said the idea of bringing all relevant stakeholders together was noble.
He said the just concluded Championship in memory of basketball legend Kimto was an opportunity for basketball players in Abuja to compete amongst themselves having been training for a while without competitions.
“It’s a platform for them to burn that excess energy. We also used the opportunity to transfer some life skills into them like how to stay away from drugs, positive living and leadership training.
“We got players from all the different levels of the game playing here. 16-year-old kids are playing. We also got some premier league players playing as well. We also ensured that a girl is part of each team,” he said.
Also speaking, the CEO of Mark Mentors, Igoche Mark said Kimto once played for his team.
He said: “The turnout shows that the players are hungry. We have not had this kind of tournament for a while.”
At the end, Hardrockers Basketball Club won the maiden edition of the Felix Kimto Memorial Basketball Championship.
Hardrockers defeated the Defenders Basketball Club by 63-54 to win the keenly contested final at the Old Parade Ground in Abuja on Sunday.
In the third-place game, Nile Spartans defeated Apo Settlers by 75-66 to come third after three days of action.
A total of 12 teams participated in the championship to honour the late Felix Kimto who was murdered on November 4, 2020, in front of the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
The championship was organised by the Grinders Basketball Foundation, the team he was playing for before his demise.
The first, second and third-placed teams got prize money each.
