HOSEC director makes case for basketball

Executive director, Hope for Second Chance Foundation (HOSEC), Ibukunoluwa Otesile, has emphasised the need to develop basketball in the country.

She stated this during a press conference to herald the Jide Adesina Female Basketball tournament, which was organised in conjunction with the Oyo State Basketball Association at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan on Saturday.

“Basketball is a game we need to give more attention to in Nigeria even as much as we give to football. This is a platform for the girls to fulfil their dreams and become stable and economically empowered. If we have a structured female basketball team in Nigeria, that itself will aid the development of sports in Nigeria,” Otesile said.

She also said the late Jide Adesina created the platform for girls who love basketball, to be able to express themselves as a lover of the game himself.

“We situated it in October to commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child. It is one of the activities of the HOSEC Foundation created to celebrate the occasion. This is the third edition and the first edition we are going to have after the passing of our chairman, Mr Jide Adesina. This edition is to immortalise him. He sponsored many children he never met.

“The Nigerian female basketball is doing well and we are trying to look at what we can put together at the grassroots level. Getting girls to be involved in sports is one of the powerful tools we can ever have.

“It is important that we get all the support for girls in basketball. The girls are between 18 and 22. Many girls have the interest but there is no outlet for them to express themselves and to develop. So what we do here is to provide support for those that showed interest to thrive,” she added

Meanwhile, Goodness Team who won the tournament also earned N150,000 as prize money as runner up Proud Pantheress received N100,000 while the Jide Adesina who came third got the prize money of N50,000.