President of FIBA Africa Zone 3, Col. Sam Ahmedu, has commended the standard of play exhibited by players at the ongoing Nestle Milo Secondary Schools Basketball Championship.
Speaking with TheNiche in Lagos while reviewing some of the matches played at some of the conferences, the Proprietor of Dodan Warriors Basketball Club said he was impressed with what he saw of some of the players and praised the initiative of the sponsors, Nestle Nigeria Plc.
He said: “I must confess that the standard of the championship has improved tremendously. Some of the players were just fantastic and I am sure their coaches must have done a great job on them.
“But the major praises should go to our sponsors, Nestle Nigeria Plc., for identifying with the game and helping to nurture the future champions.
“From what I saw of some of the matches watched so far, there is no doubt that the national final billed for the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos from June 1 to 6 will be thrilling and exciting.”
Meanwhile, action continues at the Western Conference of the championship, with matches lined up in both the boys and girls categories.
The hostilities, which dunked off on May 14 in Ibadan, will end on May 20 with the following participating states Anambra, Delta, Ekiti, FCT Abuja, Kwara, Lagos, Ogun, Osun and Oyo in attendance.
Before now, action had taken place at the Confluence Conference in Lokoja, Kogi State, and later moved to Benin, Edo State, for the Atlantic Conference which dunked off on April 30.
Action later shifted to Akure, Ondo State, with the Central Conference which dunked off on Thursday, May 7, and ended last Wednesday, May 13.
At each of the conferences, the first-placed teams in both the boys and girls categories went home with the championship trophies and various amounts of cash rewards for the development of sports facilities in their respective schools.
Every team participating in the national finals will receive N200,000. Winners will go home with additional N150,000 for first place, while the second-placed teams will receive N120,000 and third-placed and N100,000. They will also receive trophies and lots of Milo goodies.