President, Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Tijani Umar, says the newly inaugurated board will ensure that the national teams win FIBA Africa competitions this year.
Umar said yesterday in Lagos that the competitions would involve the senior national male and the female teams as well as the Under-16 teams.
The senior male teams are to compete in the FIBA Africa Cup of Nations in Libya and in Madagascar for the female teams, he said.
"The board, inaugurated on Tuesday, will work to see that the country takes part in all programmes on FIBA-Africa calendar for this year.
"This we have started by inviting foreign-based players to camp in Houston, U.S., while the home-based players will be camped preparatory to the selection of the final team," Umar said.
He said the first phase of the camping would hold from June 26 to July 1, while the final phase would hold from July 20 to July 31.
The male team is expected to depart the countryon Aug. 2 for the Aug. 5 competition in Libya but a date for the female team has yet to be announced.
On the cadet teams, he said that their coaches had been directed to start preparations for the qualifiers for Africa Under-16 Championship in Maputo, Mozambique and in Dakar, Senegal in August.
The male U-16 championship is to hold from July 16 to July 25 in Maputo, while the female championship is scheduled for Aug. 22 to Aug. 30 in Dakar.
He said the qualification tournament for the U-16 boys and girl's championships had been slated for Cotonou, Benin Republic, later this month.
"We are mapping out strategies to put things right and eventually actualise our proposed programmes for the year," he said.
Umar appealed to lovers of the game to rally support for the NBBF for the good of the sport and the players.
by fiba.com