basketball ASSOCIATION
Origin/history of Basketball in the World
Basketball began with its invention in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts by Canadian physical education instructor James Naismith as a less injury prone sports than football. Naismith was 31 years old graduate student when he created the indoor sports to keep athletes indoor during winter. The game became established fairly quickly and grew very popular as the 20th century progressed first in America and then in other parts of the world. After Basketball became established in American colleges, the professional game followed. The American National Basketball Association (NBA) established in 1946, grew to a multi billion dollar Enterprise by the end of the century, and Basketball became an integral part of American culture.
History of Basketball in Nigeria
The history of Basketball in Nigeria goes as far back as the late 1950’s when Walid Zabadne served as the first Basketball coach to train Nigerians. At the time, Nigeria’s only Basketball court was situated in the Syrian Club. Walid Zabadne continued teaching young Nigerians to become basketballers and when Nigeria’s basketball Federation was organized, he took them to several basketball competitions across Africa. In view of his role as the pioneer of basketball in Nigeria, Walid Zabadne has been deemed “father of Nigerian Basketball”. Also worthy of note is that Zabadne was later made the president of the Nigerian Basketball Federation.
History of Bayelsa State Basketball Association
The state Basketball Association is as old as the state itself, such that since the state was created in 1996 from the old Rivers State, the Association was also created since it was an already existing Association. However, the State Basketball Association in 2006 at Abiokuta National Sports Festival tagged Gateway 2006 recorded its first medal. This feat was made possible by the workaholic and dynamic Head coach Zikala E. Amgbare and a team of very persistent and medal driven athletes to secure a Silver medal that even gave them employment with the state sports Council.
After this this Silver medal won by the male team, it was the youth category that recorded wining a lot by both Milo championships and the National youth games, coming home with gold and silver medals.With the proactive preparations and very passionate handling of Coach Tony T. Nelson at both the youths female teams and seniors came the trailblazer of Silver medal and Gold in the immediate past two National Sports Festivals
Our Executives
| Name | Designation |
|---|---|
| Orukari Ziwaramo Lawrence | Secretary |
| Zikala E. Amgbare | Head Coach |
| Tony T. Nelson | Assistant Coach |
| Iprete Odibukuma | Assistant Coach |
Photo Gallery
