Kenya Basketball's revamped website

In these times that Kenyan sport is slowly taking different forms of transformation both offline and online, it is fair to applaud the steps taken by various sports federations in the country. Kenya Basketball Federation's officials have decided to take their game online and through the revamped website, www.kenyabasketballfederation.co.ke  hope to appeal to a wider audience of the basketball game in Kenya and around the world.

Screen-shot of the revamped Kenya Basketball Federation website

This is a positive step forward for the officials who were elected to fresh mandate in KBF elections held earlier this year. This platform should the springboard for a final take-off of the game. This is after the #FridayNightBasketball (with CodeRed Basketball) breathed a new lease of life to the game since last year. This year it still attracts crowds but the other weekend games are yet to make any significant numbers. The game is also in dire need of corporate sponsorship not just for the League(s) but also for some of the teams who barely make it from game to game.
The game also needs some funds to be able to expand its outreach to other urban centres which see just a fraction of the League action while there should be continuous regional leagues. With the county system of government coming to effect, this is an idea the Executive Committee ought to look at.
But for now, we at SportsKenya applaud KBF for the baby steps towards the realisation of the game's success in the country.

Zuku Slamfest...a boon for Regional Basketball

As TV stations look towards sport to improving their content, Wananchi Group through their Zuku channel is adding more local content to engage and excite local (and also regional ) subscribers to their services.

In a first for the game of basketball, Zuku together with Vision 21 Sports Consulting - a sports marketing firm with its offices in Dakar , Senegal as well as Nairobi, Kenya - will air "Zuku Slamfest" - tournament to be held in July 2012 at the Kasarani Gymnasium. This event targets about 8 countries and it will be a show of talent and skills in the game of basketball. The winners will take home about KSh.8.5million ( US$ 100,000).
This is a big boon to the game of basketball seeing that FridayNightBasketball has been the buzz for the last season and going forward the Kenya Basketball Federation needs such media partners to heighten the game's reach.
The idea is also great for local content providers who will ensure that there is variety in not just the usual sports coverage, but also in terms of well-researched documentaries and events too.
Kudos to Zuku for seeing the sense in more local sport!

Update:
The Zuku team announced that the ZUKU SlamFest 2012 will take place from the 20th- 22nd of July 2012. There are 8 countries to participate in the tournament coming from Benin, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and hosts Kenya. A total of 16 games will be played by these teams which shall be carefully selected by tournament organisers Vision 21.
Wananchi Group CEO Richard Bell said that this tournament is meant to 'showcase local and regional basketball talent and skill and raise the standard of the game as well as basketball media productions'.
Preceding the tournament will be a documentary series Passport - with a tour of the 8 participating countries and reviewing the growing culture of the basketball game in these states.

Hope this is what the Doctor recommended for Kenya's basketball fledging fortunes!

Kenya Basketball Elections 2012 – Who’s Who

After weeks of subdued activity, the candidates offering themselves for the different positions for running the Kenyan basketball game have been revealed.

From our earlier post, it seems the man at the helm is going for re-election as is the ones running the Fixtures Secretary and Secretary- General positions’. Some interesting faces include Abraham Muthogo who’s worked with many a financial institutions and would be hoped to infuse some form of business enterprise into the federation. He's also a former player having played for Barclays Eagles, Co-op Bank among other KBF- Premier League's teams. 

Also Dr. Liz Odera of Sadili Oval – a sports development institution which at one time hosted Sadili Basketball team and Sadili Basketball tournament – the centre currently hosts various academies in football, rugby, tennis, swimming and of course basketball - Dr. Odera is well-versed in youth sports development.

Angela Yvonne Luchivya – a seasoned ladies' basketballer – if we had a Hall of Fame in Kenya’s basketball scene, she would definitely make the cut. From surviving a brush with death when their team lost about 5 members and their technical director – the then Barclays Eaglets, she endured months of physiological and mental rehab before coming back to play for Sprite Storms and making it to the national team. She’s sure to inspire the young and also bring in some good corporate acumen she’s acquired while working at Coca-Cola Kenya.

Here’s a complete list of the positions and the vying candidates. Let’s meet at Nyayo National stadium – Basketball gym at 0900 hours;

Chairperson: - Paul Otula: Abraham Abrash,Muthogo

Vice Chair: - George Omondi; Hilmi Ali

2nd Vice Chair:- Donald Liru, Dr. Liz Odera, Gitau Waringo

Sec-Gen: - Vitalis Gode

Ass. Sec: - Ambrose Kisoi, Jane Makale, Bosire Bogonko

Treasurer: - Peter Orero, Angela Luchivya

Ass. Treasurer: - Luke Ogolla

Fixtures Sec: - Joseph Amoko, David Demba

Ass. Fix Sec: - Charles Goro, Edwin Oguta

True "B'ball Awards" CodeRED Basketball style !!!

The 'unofficial' basketball promoters in the country - CodeRED Basketball- managed by entertainment group Code Red DJs will tomorrow award outstanding Kenyan basketball talent in an event to be held at the Louis Leakey auditorium, Nairobi, Kenya National Museum starting at 1800hours.

Filling in the vacuum left by Kenya Basketball Federation which has been dithering in many ways in handling the basketball game in Kenya, CodeRED Basketball which has been behind the Friday Night Basketball action will host what would be the creme-de-la-creme. Naming them, 'The B'ball Awards' and as they have christened them 'let the stars shine'; the awards will seek to recognise the talent in the game in country for the 2011 season.
It's a good initiative only that we wish it was KBF which had secured their services and competitively engaged a professional vetting body which would in turn ask the public to vote in. This would have been a more representative move which would sell the game to the public, in essence promoting basketball further.

Can the Federation come up with something more wholesome and engaging the entire basketball fraternity? Can they engage more widely with corporates who would be willing to support their cause? Can this be the learning curve for the game to be able to change its face now and in coming days?
 
Pity that others see opportunities while the top brass' still in slumber...serious contenders and basketball officials, the ball is squarely in your court!

Quick Update:
A quick update of winners on the day;

1. Best Player - Male - Tobias Odhiambo - KenCom Lions
2. Best Player - Female - Hilda Luvandwa -  USIU Flames
3. Best Team - Male - Co-op(erative) Bank
4. Best Team - Female- Eagle Wings
5. Best Coach - Male - Carey 'T9' Odhiambo - Co-op Bank 
6. Best Coach - Female - Thomas 'Smarts' Olumbo - Eagle Wings

For more info on the list of winners, check this link here.

Spriteball Finals

The Final round of the Spriteball comes to its grand finale at the Railways Sports Ground on Friday and Saturday on 14th & 15th August. After touring major towns in the country including Eldoret, Kisumu and Mombasa, the tour lands in town with lots of prospective youth in participation as this remains the main hub for talent in the game.
On the panel is expected to include Juwan Antonio Howard-of Charlotte Bobcats which features in the US NBA, along with KBF officials
Mark your calendars and make way to the grounds for this action-packed weekend !

Basketball: Kenyan lady makes a big impact in the US

Josephine catches a rebound in a game between Union University & Lambuth University in the NAIA tournament.
Photo courtesy of Union University

The Kenyan basketball scene has been rather nondescript at a time when other sporting disciplines have been excelling at different levels. Thus it was refreshing to read that a Kenyan lady is about to make a break into women's basketball most lucrative league WNBA.
While local media reports have stated that the lady has been drafted to the Indiana ladies team , fondly known as Indiana Fever, I'll not confirm that to you yet. But what I can confirm is that the lady playing in her 6th year, at the National Association of Inter-collegiate Athletics (NAIA) Basketball, has made a big impact , winning her 2nd consecutive Player of the Year award.
This is no mean achievement, given basketball not just in Kenya but most parts of Africa is still at times formative stages. In fact, there are less than 10 players from African basketball leagues and even worse is that there are very few who can make a transition without playing college games first in US- perhaps a skewed position of the game in Africa. Can NBA and WNBA or even FIBA try address such?
Back to our local hero, I do hope she's drafted to the competitive WNBA league from her Union University team which she's currently playing as centre. It bodes well for the local teams and talent which has been fairing better than their male counterparts internationally.
Please KBF use this goodwill to grow the game locally, what more do you need to wake up? For more info check here.

Co-op Bank draw first blood in KBF Basketball Play-offs

Coming after a brief break (occassioned by the African Women Club championships), Co-op Bank of Kenya men's team went one up against Kenya Commercial Bank Lions. The games have seen quite a decline in national and local attention, losing out big even on club sponsorship.
Hosting the club championships didn't improve the numbers much and that ought to be a cause for concern for the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF)officials.
The second of the best of 3 games will be played this weekend and though the games ought to serve up some nice match-ups , I'm hugely disappointed by the lack of promotion for the games.
There ought to be some serious soul-searching for the officials in the off-season as this game is slowly going into obscurity.
Mr Otula over to you !

KBF Play-offs:- Another Pedestrian season

The coming weekends present the Kenyan basketball scene with what is supposed to be the highlights of the season, the KBF Play-offs where the top 4 teams from each of the leagues play for the ultimate spot and the prestige ( no money the last time I checked !)that comes with it.
As usual, I paid casual visit some weekends ago and I almost shed tears at the level of competition in these leagues. There are simply no crowd attractions. 2 months ago, HomeBoyz Productions together with Coca-Cola Co under the flagship brand Sprite tried bringing the game alive with the Streetball which went for 2 weekends then fizzled out ! Reasons unknown to us but one major reason is non-frills display of the Kenyan game.
When the new officials took office early this year, I thought we were redeemed but far from it. There is even concern that the gam may become just another fairy tale -the likes of Netball-who plays that game anyway ?
I'll make my place to the Play-off Finals but I'll be keen to see what the new year holds for this game.
Sidenote:
What were the Kenyan official thinking sending an under-strength team to the Junior Women's Championships in Tunis ? For such an energy-sapping game you can't afford to have a bench made up of 5 players, unless you're the Dream Team of the 1990s !
Style up guys !