April 11, (THEWILL) – The Nigeria Basketball Federation’s South-South and South-East zones will host the 2022 Owerri Basketball Classics between April 20th and 24th.
This four-day event, organised by Imo State Basketball Chairman, Kelechi Anosike, in collaboration with former Nigerian international, Kelechi Anuna and 14 others (current and retired players), will include 15 teams from throughout the zones and will include a variety of prizes.
With former D’Tigress captain, Joyce Ekworomadu, serial Afrobasket winners Ndidi Madu, Adaora Elonu, Chukwudi Madubuam, Ike Diogu, Stan Okoye, Ekene Ibekwe, Ifunanya Ibekwe, and Obi Emegano sponsoring teams to the four-day event, the second edition promises even more excitement.
Anuna, the 2017 Afrobasket silver medalist, stated regarding the competition: “The tournament initiative is to provide hope and a sense of belonging for the South-East and South-South youth. After the last edition in December, I knew that we needed to bring more national team players back to support. We are fortunate that many wanted to support basketball in Nigeria.”
While speaking about his motivation, Anuna, who recently commissioned a basketball court, said that growing up, he saw sports stars returning to their villages to build basketball courts and football pitches gave him an idea of what he wanted and needed to achieve.
“As I got older, and saw the state of basketball facilities and infrastructures in the East compared to other regions in Nigeria, I knew I had to do something. Every time I come home, I see the same thing year after year. Instead of waiting, I said the time is now which led to the recent basketball court renovation in Owerri where this competition will take place.”
With the backing of the Kelechi Anuna Foundation, he stated that further plans and developmental activities to revitalize basketball in Imo state, the South East, and many other parts of Nigeria are in the works.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
