4th August, 2015
National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos has been a beehive of activities since Monday as this year’s Milo Top 50 Camp dunked off with coaches from NBA on ground to take Nigerian kids through rudiments of basketball.
Nestle Nigeria Plc, the sponsor of the Milo Basketball Championship for Secondary Schools, says it remains committed to the development of the game in Nigeria.
The Milo Top 50 Camp facilitates the chances of the talents discovered from various conferences across the country at the last edition of the secondary school tourney held early this year to further develop their skills through world class coaching.
As usual the facilitator, United States Of America-based Masai Ujiri alongside five other NBA coaches, Patrick Mutombo (Asst. Coach Denver Nuggets), Ime Udoka (Asst. Coach San Antonio Spurs), Jama Mahlalela (Asst. Coach Toronto Raptors) and Patrick Englebrecht (Toronto Raptors International Scouting Director), are working with 18 Nigerian coaches at the Top 50 Camp to ensure the players get quality training, which will end on 5 August.
The Top 50 Camp which is a Nestle Milo project for the Nigerian youth is targeted at exposing the enormous potential of our youth and the abundant basketball talents in the country.
Masai Ujiri sees the Nestle Milo Top 50 Camp Programme as the only one organized in the country which is result oriented for the growth of the game of basketball.
“Apart from teaching them the basics and fundamentals in basketball, they will be taught other life values. Our Milo Top 50 Camp is planned. Here we talk of timing, how to interact with others. It is not all the players that make it to the NBA but they can play in other leagues across the globe,’’ Ujiri said.
One of the coaches, Jama Mahlalela of Toronto Raptors, who is working with Masai Ujiri, described some of the kids as bundle of talents, noting that what they need at this stage is proper guidance, grooming and close monitoring.
“At this level you can mould them into the exact role you want them to play. I am satisfied with their performance, they are future stars,” he said.
The Brand Manager Nestle Milo, Bola Audu says the brand will continue to instill the values of hard work, fair play, discipline and team spirit in the youth.
“Nestle’s reward as regards the basketball project is the smiles on faces of these players. We regard the Top 50 Camp as the icing on the cake where the players are exposed to quality training under the supervision of world class coaches,” Audu noted.
The Milo Top 50 Camp gives the children the opportunity to interact one on one with the coaches handling specific areas. These includes individual defense, footwork, dribbling, shooting and passing.