Amadou welcomed Hakeem with the following words:
“We are thrilled to have announced that Hakeem has been appointed Africa ambassador to the NBA. We want to thank Hakeem for joining us and we look forward to building the game together in Africa.”
Hakeem’s passion shone through as he shared his vision for Africa in his new role.
On his role as Ambassador
Hakeem Olajuwon: I want to thank the NBA for the opportunity, and my role as an NBA Ambassador to Africa is a very strategic one.
I have a great passion for Africa and I am interested to engage with the youth of Africa. This already started last year with my involvement with the launch of the Power Forward initiative in Nigeria, engaging with corporate sponsors and government bodies to promote the game. It’s a big role with huge potential.
I am very excited about the opportunity and I am looking forward to working with the NBA on the ground to provide opportunities for the youth in Africa.
First of all, the NBA has a presence in Africa. They see the potential, opportunities and with Amadou providing the necessary leadership, pulling the infrastructure and awareness, the future is bright just like China many years ago
Africa has a lot of Players in the league and many more who have played in the NBA and so many more who are aspiring to make the grade.
Advice to African federations
Hakeem Olajuwon: The first thing African Federations need to address is the facilities. When you look at the facilities where the game is played at High school level, the majority of them are not good enough. They need to improve them as a base.
They also need to be creating opportunities to watch the games, to help create greater aspirations.
The federations can work with the NBA, improving facilities because one major advantage for us in Africa is the physique and athletic abilities we have in abundance. African kids are endowed with the best physical attributes for the game.
The next step would be to create access to platforms for further developments through scholarships, and there are a lot of opportunities.
Amadou and I see the passion, and that’s the first step to developing the game on the continent. We have been beneficiaries of the system, hence we will endeavor to inspire governments and support the idea of creating more tournaments.
I have contacts with the relevant bodies working on recruiting scholarships. Global searches these days start from high schools right through to colleges.
My advice to parents is to encourage their kids to take their passion seriously such that when opportunity knocks, they can be ready for the school program.
Advice to African players aspiring to make the grade in the USA, and lessons on adjustment
Hakeem Olajuwon: I played for my high school in Nigeria before getting the scholarship that took me to the USA. Now some players are being recruited from high school or into high school, and it affords them the opportunity to make the adjustments earlier.
The college coaches help to make that adjustment easier, once you start interacting with your teammates.
It’s a big adjustment coming from Africa. A lot will depend on how comfortable and how socially amenable you are because essentially you will have something to offer before you are considered in the first place. You have the conditioning, weight and the best part of adjusting includes nutrition and diet as well as the training regime to immediately impact quick improvements to your talent and development. But the best part of it is that if you are good enough you can make it in the game. Even more it’s a dream journey. You get a degree, an education and that’s the game changer.
The NBA takes tremendous interest in giving us the platform and I am looking forward to contributing and giving them hope to excel in the future.
When I played, we had only few people coming to watch.
Basketball needs to become the second most important sport on the continent because that’s the potential. You can’t compete with the reach of soccer.
We feel like basketball is unique. It’s inspiring and we can develop and establish basketball to run our own race and develop our own culture and market.
Message to African players
Hakeem Olajuwon: I want to encourage all the young talents to use the opportunity and platform provided by the presence of the NBA in Africa to develop their talents.
Our goal is to ensure that current NBA players and legends are part of the projects and also African development.
No comments:
Post a Comment