First NBA basketball school to be launched in Morocco

NBA Africa and EVOSPORT, a subsidiary of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), launched an initiative in Paris last week to promote youth basketball in Morocco.

The collaboration between these institutions will see the launch of the first NBA basketball school in Morocco and four Jr. NBA leagues, UM6P said in a press release, noting that this is the “largest youth basketball promotion program ever implemented by the League in the country”.

This collaboration between NBA Africa and UM6P will be implemented by EVOSPORT, in collaboration with Act4Community, an entity of the OCP Group ecosystem. Together, they will launch four Jr. NBA leagues that will benefit nearly 2,000 boys and girls under the age of 18 each year in Khouribga, Gantour, Laayoune and El Jadida, with basketball school to be set up in these four locations, said the press release, adding that more than 200 local coaches will have access to specialized training programs.

NBA Africa Managing Director Clare Akamanzi, who attended the signing ceremony, emphasized that previous initiatives in Morocco “have brought about an incredible passion for basketball throughout the country.” In collaboration with UM6P and ahead of the first African Basketball League games in Morocco in April, “we look forward to significantly strengthening our basketball promotion efforts in the country and offering thousands of young Moroccans the opportunity to learn and play basketball”.

For his part, UM6P President Hicham El Habti said he was “delighted to be working with NBA Africa to introduce this innovative youth basketball program in Morocco,” stressing that at UM6P, “we believe in the power of sport to inspire and develop young minds”.

This project, notes the press release, is a continuation of the collaboration between NBA Africa and OCP Group, which has set up Jr. NBA leagues in the cities of Benguerir and Khouribga.

To date, NBA Africa has benefited more than 100,000 Moroccan youths and coaches through its basketball promotion programs.

The signing ceremony which took place at UM6P France in Paris, the university’s European branch, was also attended by NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum, and Basketball Africa League (BAL) President Amadou Gallo Fall.