Senegalese Basketball Stars Eye America

In a country where football rules, basketball is becoming increasingly popular as the stars of tomorrow eye the potential of a rich future in the NBA in the United States.

Published

6 months ago

Categories

Sports

Topics

Africa, United States

Places

United States of America, Senegal

Transcript

SCRIPT:   Basketball is on the up in Senegal. At the SEEDS Academy, the only one of its kind in Africa, these young men are aiming to become professionals. Measuring 2m23 tall Youssoupha already has the raw materials to make it big. And like (the) others he is eyeing a future in the US. SOUNDBITE 1 - Youssoupha Birima Fall (man, in French, 8 sec) "The NBA is the highest level, it's the top." From the age of 14 the budding basketball players are housed and fed by the Dakar-based Sports For Education and Economic Development Foundation. Drawn from the most promising players in the country the students are looked after in every sense. And here books are just as important as basketball. SOUNDBITE 2 - Idrissa Cissoko SEED Academy coach (man, in French) "We try to instill human values through sport. We are just producing basketball players, we are also producing men, men who can be of use to Senegal, Africa and the world." Since 2003 nearly 300 players have passed through the academy. 40 of them made it to American universities with one, Mohamed Sene, making the leap to the NBA itself. The others continued their careers in leagues in Europe and the Middle East and the people at SEEDS hope the current trickle of players coming out of Senegal will, one day, become a torrent. SOUNDBITE 3 - Cheikh Fall, SEEDS Academy director (man, in French, 14 sec) "Africa is the futre of basketball. Nature has been kind to Africans, now we need to familiarise the guys with the game itself." The SEEDS project is looking to take root in other parts of Senegal as it tries to promote basketball in a country where, until now at least, football has been king. ----------------------------------------------------- SHOTLIST :  THIES, SENEGAL (70 km from Dakar), NOVEMBER 21-28, 2012 (SOURCE: AFPTV) - VAR basketball training at SEEDS Academy SOUNDBITE 1 - VAR students in class and dining hall SOUNDBITE 2 - VAR students training SOUNDBITE 3 - VAR training