Olympic teams shine in first Junior NBA-Safaricom tournament

 The Olympic boys and girls’ teams were the stars of the first Junior NBA and Safaricom tournament played at the Sabis International School in Nairobi. The first tournament had an impressive turnout of 24 schools with more than 500 junior players.

In the girls’ semi-finals, Olympic beat Daima 26-4 in a one-sided match on the outdoor courts. St. John was made to sweat before edging out Chrisco 12-10 in an entertaining encounter.

In the boys’ semi-finals, Olympic were in a class of their own as they brushed aside Harambee 15-6 in the first semi-final. St. John on the other hand pushed hard before edging out favorites Makini School 16-14.

Daima took the third position in the girls’ tournament after edging out Chrisco 13-5. In the boys’ competition, Makini hammered Harambee 23-10 to take the bronze medal.

Olympic won gold in the girls’ competition after thrashing St. John 25-03 in a one sided affair in the finals. The tables turned in the boys’ final as St.John edged out Olympic 17-14 in the tightly contested match.

“It feels great. We have really worked hard and winning a tournament like this is a just reward for all the efforts we put in. Preparations were vigorous because we have been training since schools closed in November (2024). When others went on holiday, we remained behind in Nairobi to train. The rewards are showing right now,” said Ezra Alenga who coaches the Olympic Junior Secondary teams.

“We have been working over this for years. We prepared over time, it feels good because it was a nice competition and very tough by the way. My boys were disadvantaged because of their size, and our opponents in the final were very physical. But we were tactical and shot from the three points line that they did not guard, and that is how we scored baskets,” elaborate coach Brian of St. John Junior Secondary School in Korogocho.

Some 40 coaches were on site to help with the work outs for the players before the games. Some of the boys and girls will be selected for the Junior NBA elite 100 camp in April in Mombasa.

“We had all the 500 players playing games and doing work outs. 100 were identified for more workouts on day two before the semifinals and finals. 15 girls were selected for the “for her” camp by the Basketball Africa League camp in Nairobi at the end of February during the BAL weekend in Kenya,” explained Mike Finley, Kenya Country Lead for NBA Africa.